Hanging By A Moment
by RaiPhoenix015
Summary: Suzuki Hitomi and Ohtori Choutarou. The very best of friends. Both in love...with the same guy...with HIM, Shishido Ryou. Silver Pair, RyouxOC, with a side of AtoxJi..dual ending..
1. Chapter 1

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A/N: Presenting my first ever semi-yaoi fic with a guy-guy pairing in it. I was actually unsure about writing a fic like this, but when I started on it I found it difficult to stop. I actually enjoyed making it, so I hope you all enjoy reading it.

_RaiPhoenix015_

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**Hanging by a Moment**

_RaiPhoenix015_

--I--

To tell you the truth, the whole thing just happened. It just did in that weird and sudden kind of way.

It started with a simple conversation and the next thing I knew, we became best friends.

Me, Suzuki Hitomi and Ohtori Choutarou.

He's a year younger than me; sweet, kind, generous, helpful, a respectable person and is very humble despite the fact that he goes to Hyotei, a school for insufferable snobs. He plays tennis and plays the piano, gets good grades and is in short, a completely good guy.

It's a complete mystery why we became best friends, much less even get along.

I mean, I'm not exactly calling myself a bad girl, but I've been compared to a viper more than a dozen times for my sharp tongue. I also dislike tennis or any sport for that matter. I'm helpful; I don't mind sharing and I'm nice to people in general, but for some reason gossip follows me around like a scent you can't get rid of no matter how many times you wash it off.

I also hate Hyotei for being a snob school full of egomaniacs and divas and fake people who don't know the meaning of the word 'compassion'. I also go to Seigaku, one of Hyotei's main rivals.

So now you see why it came as a surprise to some why we became best friends.

But to the two of us, we didn't have to think much about it. It isn't a mystery at all.

In short, you can just say Chou and I were so on the same wavelength.

Plus, there is one very important thing we have in common.

We both love the same guy.

_Him._

Shishido Ryou.

--I--

It all started that day.

I was sitting in a bench in the park that Saturday, minding my own business and waiting for my best friend to finish his tennis practice. I dislike tennis, but for Chou's sake I put up with it. I would never tell him this but ever since he made me sit through my first tennis match, I saw that tennis was a pretty exciting sport. Now I put up with it more than I used to and I don't really mind it when I wait for him to finish practice. He's an amazing tennis player and I'm really proud of him whenever he wins matches.

I stood up and stretched my arms. I glanced at my watch and saw that there was a good half hour before he finished practice. It was a good time as any to buy ice cream.

I squeaked as someone's arms suddenly wrapped itself around my waist. I didn't have to turn around to figure out who it was.

"Ohtori Choutarou!" I beat my fists on the arms around me.

He chuckled and released me. "Ohayo Hime-chan."

"Hey yourself." I smiled up at him not the least intimidated by the fact that he was a lot taller than me. No matter how many times he said it, I never get tired of him calling me 'Hime'.

"What are you doing here?"

He smiled down at me. "Practice is over."

"Already?" I asked.

"Well…" His smile disappeared and he rubbed the back of his neck. I instantly knew he had news. "Today is actually Atobe-buchou's birthday so the whole team's going out to celebrate, so…"

"Oh." My smile dropped. Chou was supposed to treat me to a movie and then lunch afterwards. It was his way of apologizing for bailing out on me and attending an emergency practice session for three straight days last week. Now he had to bail out on me… _again_.

He noticed that I wasn't smiling anymore. "Hime-chan, I'm really so-"

"Hey Choutarou!"

We turned to the direction of the voice.

I saw a semi-familiar person heading our way wearing the familiar Hyotei jacket, a cap and carrying a tennis bag similar to Chou's. He went near and placed a hand on Chou's shoulder.

He then turned to me. "Yo."

Chou snapped out of it. "Um…Shishido-senpai, this is Suzuki Hitomi. Hime-chan, this is Shishido Ryoh-senpai."

"Your doubles partner, right?" I asked. I held out a hand. "How do you do? Chou's told me a lot about you." That was partly true. Chou was absolutely crazy about this guy. He said he was a good doubles partner and that he was a good friend despite the fact that he can be quite a tough guy and attracts trouble constantly with his big mouth.

"Same here." He removed the hand resting on Chou's shoulder and shook my hand firmly. I gave Chou a quick glance but he was busy avoiding my eyes.

"You must be his Hime." Ryou was saying. I concentrated on him. He grinned. I couldn't help thinking that he looked…sort of cute. "He's told us a lot about you. It's nice to finally meet you."

"He's told you about me, eh?" I raised an eyebrow at my best friend, who smiled sheepishly. "What exactly did he say?"

"Oh just some things…" Ryou trailed off. He gave me another grin and turned to Chou. "Anyway, we should get going. Atobe's waiting in the li-" He stopped. I saw him glance at me quickly from the corner of his eye.

Ok, so I know when I'm not wanted. "It's ok." I said, forcing a smile on my face. "You go Chou. Go and have fun. Just say happy birthday to your buchou for me."

Chou looked at me in that way only he could. He knew I was a miffed at him ditching me again, so I said firmly. "Go. I'm fine with it."

Chou knew better than to argue. He walked over and kissed me on the cheek. "I'll call you later. I promise. Thank you, Hime-chan."

I nodded and squeezed his arm reassuringly. I felt a little angry but the regulars were his friends too. And it was the captain's birthday anyway. "No problem. Have fun. Love you."

He smiled, half in apology and half in gratitude. He then turned away and nodded to his partner.

Ryou nodded my way. "It was nice meeting you."

"Same here."

I watched as the two left. Just before they turned the corner, Chou waved. I waved back with a smile. The smile quickly melted off my face when the two disappeared. I took a deep breath.

It would be selfish of me to monopolize Chou's time. I had to learn to share him and acknowledge the fact that he had other friends. He was important to me, and it would be wrong of me to hog him just because I want him all to myself.

So why do I still feel incredibly pissed?

Oh yeah, because these past few days Chou seemed to have all the time in the world for his teammates but not for me.

I kicked the leg of the bench in frustration and walked on home.

--I--

Have you ever experienced that best friend moment when you suddenly realized something major about your best friend? As in, he or she never told you but just looking at him or her made you realize it?

It happened to me, and get this, what I found out about Chou was MAJOR, with a capital M.

When did it happen? Well, as I recall, it happened a couple of days after my first encounter with that cap-wearing, doubles partner of his.

--I--

_TING_

I plastered a smile to my face as I turned to the door. The truth is this job in my parent's music store is killing me. I mean, I love the fact that I get free music anytime I want but handling customers isn't my turf. I'm not exactly a people person.

"Ohayo!" I shouted above the music playing from the speakers. "Welcome to- Oh it's you." I smiled when I saw Chou walking in. I slumped down on my seat behind the counter, not bothering to assist him. Chou who was used to my attitude simply walked in, weaving around the stands and shelves of CDs.

He reached the counter and tugged on my red hair.

"What?" I asked. "It's a lazy Saturday afternoon, and the CDs you wanted haven't been delivered yet. Come back next week."

Chou shook his head. "It isn't that."

"What is it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. Chou only dropped by the music store whenever he's looking for those classical music CDs he likes. But usually I just drop them off directly at his house whenever I visited. Other than that, he only comes by to check if I haven't blown up the store yet.

"The thing is-"

_TING_

A head poked inside the shop. "Hey Choutarou. You here?"

I gaped as Shishido Ryoh walked inside my store. Chou gave me a look that clearly said _"What the heck are you gaping at?"_

In reply I gave him a look that said _"I'm wondering what the hell he's doing here."_

Chou got the look and simply shrugged.

"Hey Shishido-senpai!" He said, waving the guy over. Said guy approached the counter, but paused at a discreet distance once he saw me.

"Hey... Hitomi, right?" He said with a smile at my direction. "Nice to see you again."

"Same here." I said just to be polite. I knew better than to act rude towards his doubles partner, although I'm feeling curious as to why they were here. "So what brings you guys here?" I turned to Chou, having the feeling that this was more his idea than his partner's.

"He wanted to look around." He answered simply.

"Oh, really?" I said, narrowing my eyes at Chou when Ryou turned to look around the place. "Well, feel free to look around."

"Thanks." Ryou then walked towards the nearest stand and started looking through the CDs.

Quick as a flash, I leaned over the counter and grabbed Chou's collar just as he turned away from me. I dragged him over, taking care not to make too much noise to alert Ryou although he probably wouldn't have heard me over the noise from the radio. I whispered in Chou's ear.

"What the hell is this about?" I murmured at him, sounding half-curious and half-worried. "Something is seriously off with you, Chou. What's going on?"

"N-Nothing, Hime-chan." He said. He released himself from my grasp and went to stand next to Ryou.

"Damn." I said to myself, before I threw myself down on my seat.

Then I did what any best friend would do when they noticed that their best friend is acting weird. I watched Chou.

I watched as Ryou showed him the CD he picked out. I watched as Ryou's shoulder accidentally touched Chou's and how the latter stiffened a bit before relaxing. I watched as Chou took the CD from him and craned my neck just in time to see their fingers touch for a millisecond and Ryou smiling at him. My whole upper body was practically lying on the counter as I watched how the two laughed together easily and how Ryou looked at him and then….and then…

_BAM_

"Dammit!" I scream as I rub my sore head.

"Hime-chan!" I heard Chou's voice before I felt his hand pull me up gently into a comfortable sitting position and another under my chin.

I opened my eyes, still rubbing my head. "Owie."

"What happened to you?" He asked worriedly, tilting my head to look him in the eye. "Are you ok?"

"I-I'm fine." I said. I can't exactly tell him I fell off the bloody counter just because I was watching him with his boyfriend.

EH? Say what!

I looked up over Chou's shoulder to see Ryou.

Ho.

Ly.

Crap.

"Hime-chan!" Chou, as well as Ryou, looked at me in surprise. It took me a minute to process that I said it out loud.

"Maybe you should take a rest." Ryou suggested.

"Yeah, maybe I should." I stood up quickly, only to grab onto the counter for support as my vision went a bit blurry.

"Hime!" Chou said sternly as he grabbed my shoulder. "Come on. I'm taking you home."

"Oh pish-posh." I said, trying to stand on my unsteady feet. I rubbed my head and winced when I felt a bump. That was a nasty fall. "I can get home just fine on my own."

"Maybe we should come with you." Ryou said. My mind snapped to attention. Ok, where did he think he was butting in like that? But Chou didn't seem to mind.

_BAM_

"Oh f-" Chou quickly slapped a hand on my mouth to keep me from cursing. What the hell is wrong with me? I screamed at the flying monkeys in my brain as Chou helped me up after I slipped down and fell on my butt.

I didn't have time to answer my own question as Chou pulled on my arm and asked Ryou to grab my bag behind the counter. The next thing I knew Chou and Ryou had locked the shop and dragged me home, although Chou had to give me a piggy-back ride halfway there because my brain wasn't giving orders to my feet and was instead working a mile a minute.

What was I thinking?

Well, for one thing, Chou was crazy about his doubles partner. I knew that. But up until now I would never have guessed it to be the kind of secretly-in-love-with-you kind of crazy. Although Chou never exactly told me, I also knew for a fact that he thinks the world of his senpai. I assumed it was because they were doubles partner and good friends and all that. Plus Chou, as he tells me himself, also thinks the world of me, so I didn't have much of a reason to pinpoint his feelings for Ryou as infatuation.

But now that I think about it, it can now certainly be identified as infatuation.

That must also be part of the reason why he hangs out with the regulars over me these past few days.

"Hime-chan. Give me the key." Chou said, snapping me out of my reverie as he placed me down from his back.

"Key?" I repeated. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts, before sending my left hand to my right wrist and pulled out the key from my wristband. I noticed Ryou giving me a look. "So I won't forget it." I said simply, to which he nodded and turned away though I noticed a small quirk of his lips and the look of amusement.

Chou wordlessly took the key from me and let us inside the house. He took off his shoes, took mine off while he was at it. He led us to the living room.

"Ohayo!" He called out. He waited for a bit. "Hmm…I guess Suzuki-san's gone." He turned to me and grabbed my hand and I could vaguely remember him telling Ryou to make himself comfortable before he dragged me off to the direction of my room.

He opened the door and walked in with me following sluggishly. "Now let's get you out of those clothes into something more comfortable." He said. He went into my walk-in closet and emerged with my favorite green shirt, brown shorts and my bandana. He laid it on my bed and walked out.

Contrary to popular belief, Chou wasn't the least bit uncomfortable about hanging out with a female, or in a female's room, or even in a female's closet, especially if he happened to know her. The truth was that Chou is only uncomfortable with people of the opposite sex when he wasn't that acquainted with her and it was already in his nature to act gentlemanly and respectably to females. In my case, he's known me for so long he doesn't even think twice about saying yes when I ask him to accompany me to the store during _that_ time of the month.

I put on the clothes Chou chose for me and made my way back to the living room, only to see Ryou and Chou sitting side-by-side on the couch, watching TV with their feet up on the coffee table. I didn't mind the feet, but a frown made its way unconsciously to my face.

I had the feeling something big was about to happen next.

And something did happen.

Ryou put down his feet and leaned towards the table to grab the remote the same time Chou did. The former grinned and snatched it before the latter did and held it teasingly before the other. Chou smiled and then lunged to get it. That resulted in the two of them falling off the couch, Chou on top of Ryou. They merely grinned at each other.

And then it happened for the third time.

_BAM_

--I--

Yup, ever since my realization of their…ahem…relationship, I've gotten into this weird habit of falling down whenever I see or come to think of it, even think of them in that way.

Ok, so back then they didn't know I caught them and they simply thought I was sick and having a slight clumsy spell. It wasn't that I was against the whole thing, I was just really surprised at that time but I got used to it…ahem…eventually… though I practically killed myself that day I first caught them at _it_.

By the way, can somebody tell me the emoticon for blushing?

--I--

It was entirely by accident. I swear to God.

It started ordinarily enough. The day went by normally without any sign signifying that something big was about to unfold that afternoon.

I was on my way home from school when my phone rang. I wasn't surprised to see Chou's mom's number on it. Sometimes our parents would use one to send a message to the other.

"Hello?"

After half an hour I was hesitantly standing in front of the gates of Chou's school: Hyotei Gakuen. Insert retching sounds here please.

If Chou's mom didn't ask me to do this for her, I wouldn't have been caught dead at this place.

I sighed and then stepped into snob territory. I ignored the looks coming from the Hyotei students and headed to the direction of the tennis courts. I've never exactly been inside the school before, but Chou's given me specific directions just in case I'd ever need to enter the school and see him. He's sweet like that.

What he failed to mention though was that the school is massive and no matter how specific the directions, it is still possible to get lost. I mean, how the heck I managed to arrive at a lake when I couldn't remember Chou even mentioning a lake is beyond me. And why was there a freaking lake in here?

Ok, so I was exaggerating it a bit. It wasn't a lake, more like a large pond or something, but I was too frustrated to care.

I cursed inwardly, ignoring a couple of Hyotei students looking my way. Then an idea hit me. I could go and call Chou on his phone.

Why didn't I think of that before?

Oh yeah, because he might be busy with practice to answer the phone.

I tried it anyway and the phone rang a few times before I heard a voice answer.

"_Hello?"_

My eyes widened, probably because, number one, that wasn't Chou's voice; number two, I recognized the voice as Ryou's; number three, Ryou was panting and seemed breathless (Oh my God) and number four, I could vaguely hear someone on the other end gasping and moaning.

Ok, so if Chou wasn't answering the phone then he was either practicing or…

He was making out with his boyfriend.

Guess what happened.

Well, first I screamed.

Then…

_SPLASH_

--I--

I sneezed.

Chou sighed from behind me. "Look at you, now you're going to catch a cold, Hime-chan." I turned and saw him pick out a shirt of his from his locker.

I was currently in the tennis clubhouse after Chou and Ryou (both looking a bit ruffled…oh God) found me on the school pond thingy and brought me to the tennis courts which was ironically enough, on the other side of that pond thingy.

Damn.

Anyway, they brought me to the courts and sneaked me past the regulars into the clubhouse, where Chou started finding me clothes to put on and Ryou stood guard outside.

I grabbed my bag, which fortunately fell off my shoulder just before I fell into the water and remained dry, and pulled out my gym shorts. I wasn't going to wear my shirt as it was wet and stinky from gym, not that I did anything in gym. All I did was sit around while everyone played volleyball, but the shirt was ugly anyway so I didn't want to wear it.

"Here." He handed me the shirt and barely batted an eyelid when I stood up and started taking off my school uniform. He turned around though just as I opened the uniform and started peeling it off.

"How'd you find me anyway?" I asked, putting on Chou's shirt. It was big on me but that was better than my wet clothes.

"How could we not?" He answered just as I was taking off my skirt. "You caused quite a scene Hime-chan, and news travels fast around here. It was easy enough to find out where you were."

"Oh." I said. I placed my damp clothes in a plastic and then in my bag. I then zipped up my shorts and Chou turned without even needing my signal.

Yeah, we were still brain twins as we're still in sync. Then why hasn't he told me yet about Ryou? And why can't I seem to figure out what the hell is _really_, as in really and truly, going on between them? Or more importantly between Chou and me? Were we, dare I say it, growing apart?

Just then the door opened.

Chou and I looked to see the entire Hyotei regulars team staring at us. I noticed Ryou just behind the lot of them looking a little worried at the two of us.

"Well, well, well…" This blue-haired, glasses-wearing guy said. "This is an interesting development."

"Hey! What's he doing in here with a girl?" This redhead guy, that immediately reminded me of a harpy, piped up. "A second ago he was snogging Ryou in here-"

_BAM_

"Not again!" Chou went to me and pulled me up from the floor.

Chou looked at me. His eyes widened when he noticed my shocked look. Back when I called him on his phone, I already got the message he was making out with Ryou but the regulars knew before I did.

And that…well…hurt.

I thought Chou and I told each other everything. I mean, I can get why they knew it before I did. They were all teammates, but couldn't he have told me about their relationship _before_ they got to the snogging stage and still in the whole liking-him-and-going-out-with-him stage?

Apparently he didn't trust me enough to tell me.

"Hime-chan. I-"

Chou didn't get to finish what he was about to say because I jumped up, grabbed my bag and made my way to the door. I paused and looked back at him.

"By the way, your mom asked me to come here because she invited me to dinner and she wanted me to drag you away from practice." I spat out the last word as if it was a God-awful taste in my mouth. "But you weren't really practicing, were you?"

I turned around, pushed past the regulars and ran the rest of the way home.

--I--

I know. I know. Melodramatic. The truth was that I wasn't angry at Chou. I mean, it was pretty obvious why he didn't tell me. All his teammates, or most of them anyway, were gay, so it was obvious why he felt more comfortable telling them than me.

How did I find out they're gay?

It wasn't like Chou was proving me wrong every single time he talked about his teammates. I mean, with the way he talked about them, it wasn't difficult to pin down that they are what they are.

And to make it clear, I don't have anything against homosexuals. What's making me angry is the fact that maybe I wasn't as good a friend as I thought I was. Because if I managed to figure out his _teammates_ were gay, how come, Gods above, wasn't I able to realize my _own best friend_ was gay?!

Insert hitting my head on the wall icon here.

God, I was so stupid!

But believe me, my problems were just starting.

--I--

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A/N: So what do you guys think?

I was inspired to write this story when I was reading this book, "M or F" by Lisa Papademetriou. (I really recommend this book. My thanks to my mom who bought it for me.) The book got me thinking about what would happen if a girl suddenly realized that her best friend's gay. I only added the falling in love thing as a twist.

I hope you enjoyed this.

Please don't forget to review. Thanks.

RaiPhoenix015

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	2. Chapter 2

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A/N: I know I should be updating my two other stories but I can't help updating this one. I hope you all enjoy reading it. Please don't forget to review. It helps.

Thanks to those who reviewed!

RaiPhoenix015

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**Hanging by a Moment**

_RaiPhoenix015_

--I--

The rest of the days were mild at best despite the fact that I was avoiding anything to do with Chou, Chou kept on trying to get me to talk to him, Mom and Dad were completely oblivious about everything and Chou's Mom, who figured out the whole thing when I didn't show up to dinner, was trying any means to get me to talk to her son.

By the way, at that time even Chou's mother knew about him and Ryou! Even his father, for goodness sake! And he was about as oblivious as my parents were.

That in itself is saying something because my parents, although I do love them, is about as clueless as a rock. When they had to pick a school for me to go to, they stuck a couple of brochures into a hat and picked out Seigaku. I thanked my lucky stars they picked a good school.

For the first time since _ever_, I was actually _excited_ to get to school. And that's saying something.

--I--

I sighed as I entered the classroom. It's been almost a week since I last talked to Chou and I didn't know how much more my nerves could take. Chou was my best friend, my buddy, my partner-in-crime, my other half.

Darn it! The guy was my brain twin for goodness sake! I can't function without him! No matter how angry and hurt I was, the guy is important to me. I have to talk to him.

If I could work up the courage to approach him that is.

I slouched down on my seat and buried my head in my arms. "When has talking to him been this difficult?"

"Talking to whom, Hitomi-chan?"

I looked up and saw two of my classmates hovering over me, one with a huge smile on his face and the other with a more serene smile. I returned their smiles with a weak wave.

"Hey Eiji, Fuji." I said. Kikumaru Eiji, a good tennis player and an even better friend, started hanging out with me in our first year when he got it into his head that he and I should hang out because we were fellow redheads. I didn't acknowledge him back then, but he was pretty persistent so it wasn't long before I found myself on good terms with him, his main man Fuji Syuusuke, and his friends, which consisted mainly of the tennis regulars.

Thankfully, Chou took it quite well, said that they were good players and that it was all right if I was friends with them because he respected them, but I knew he was unsure about the whole thing. I mean, Chou was my best friend and I supported him in everything, but Seigaku was my school and I should very well support the Seigaku regulars. So he was pretty worried about how other people in school might mistake my devotion to him as siding with Hyotei.

Despite that, I managed to find a way to cheer on both Seigaku and my best friend, by only allowing either Chou or Eiji drag me to tennis matches in which Seigaku and Hyotei are _not competing_ against each other. See? An instant solution to any problem is by making sure to avoid it.

"Nya, are you ok, Hitomi-chan?" Eiji asked, throwing himself down on his seat in front me. "Who are you talking about?"

"Oh, it's nothing really." I said, forcing a smile on my face. I knew they wouldn't buy it, but there was no harm in trying. "I'm just…I'll be fine. Don't worry. I promise I'll be fine."

The two glanced at each other, obviously not believing me. But thankfully, they respectfully backed off.

"If you're sure, nya." Eiji said, looking a bit worried.

"You can talk to us if you want, ok Hitomi-chan?" Fuji asked.

I nodded. "I know. Thank you for that." I reached over and patted Eiji on the arm then touched Fuji's hand to assure them I'm fine. They simply smiled back and turned to the front of the class as the teacher came in. I joined the class in standing up and bowing to our sensei.

I instantly knew that that was going to be a long day.

--I--

I sighed as I walked out of gym, my last class of the day. I've always hated gym and today was no exception, seeing as for some reason sensei was on my case more than usual. She was going on and on about my apparent dislike and inactiveness in sports, and how I should consider taking up a sport as it would be fun and productive. Of course, I pretended to listen but I didn't bother hiding my irritation, which she simply ignored.

I walked out of the school and headed to the direction of the gates. I fished my Ipod from my bag and was about to put on my headphones when I saw a surprising sight.

Standing there just outside the gates was none other than Shishido Ryou. He caught sight of me and walked towards me. I did the only thing I could do. I walked on with quick steps, trying to make him understand that I didn't want to talk to him.

But the truth was that I did sorta want to talk to him. Maybe then I can understand what's going on and get some answers.

"Hitomi-san, wait up!" He shouted after me, which only resulted in me walking faster. I heard a low but distinguishable swear word coming from him, after which I heard the sound of running feet. I was about to run but he caught up with me and grabbed me by the arm.

"Hitomi-san… let's talk." Ryou said.

I shrugged off his hand and glared at him as venomously as I could. I wanted, desperately wanted, to know what the hell's going on but since this person in front of me hardly knew me and stole my best friend from me simply meant that he did not have the right to harass me in this way, much less talk to me.

He let go of my hand and glared back. Apparently he was also feeling as unpleasant as I was.

"What the hell is your damn problem?!" He said strongly. His manner surprised me a bit. Come on! I'm the one who was out of the loop here and he had the nerve to be angry at me?

"Choutarou's been worried sick about you, you know. How come you didn't return any of his calls?"

"Uh, hello? Who the hell do you think you are?" I turned the intensity of my glare up a notch. "You come in here and ask me all these questions when _you're_ the one responsible for all of these anyway!"

"Excuse me?! What the fuck did I do?" His tone of voice grew sharper.

'_You took Chou away from me!'_ I wanted to shout back at him, but I held my tongue. I turned around and walked off.

"Hey!" Ryou followed after me. He grabbed my arm, but I pushed him away roughly and ran off. The problem though was that Ryou was an athlete and I wasn't. Plus, I don't do anything to keep fit, even something like walking is like a chore to me.

So he managed to catch up with me.

"Stop running." He said as he caught up to me. "If you keep running, you'll just get tired and Choutarou already told me that you aren't hung-up with sports."

I glared at him and then sighed in defeat.

"Fine." I said. I walked slowly, still tired from all the running. Ryou fell into step beside me. We walked in silence.

I kept my mouth closed. In times like this, I was usually the one who would break the silence, as I can't stand awkward silence. But I am not going to be the one to start a conversation now.

Ryou seemed to have gotten that. He opened his mouth and cleared his throat. "Listen, I-"

"Shut up. We're not there yet." I interrupted him.

I sighed inwardly…so much for not talking.

I felt Ryou giving me a look. "…And where exactly are we headed?"

I kept quiet as I led him down the block. I took a turn and stopped. We both found ourselves looking at the main entrance of an ice cream shop. I walked in without bothering to wait for him.

"Ohayo!" I shouted happily. This place always made me feel better.

I looked around at the store. It was simple, walls painted with images of people eating ice cream and kids playing, floors specially made in wood, an old-fashioned jukebox in the corner, comfy booths, sofas, throw pillows.

It was a sanctuary for the hungry and the depressed.

I sat down at my usual booth, were Chou and I usually sat together and waved over to a waitress. After Ryou and I placed our orders, we sat down in silence across from each other.

"So?" I asked.

Ryou leaned forward. "Listen, I know it isn't in my place to talk to you like this-"

"Yes, it isn't. And now that we've established that fact, you can go." I waved my hand in a shooing motion.

Ryou looked at me. "God, you're awfully stubborn, aren't you?"

"I try." I shrugged. I crossed my arms. "Listen. I am not against the whole thing, you got that? But for a fact, Chou didn't tell me about it. But at least now I know how important I am in his life."

"But he-"

"And you didn't help." I plowed on. "I mean, you and your teammates just had to go and monopolize his time and then here I found out that_you_ and my supposed _bestfriend_ we're already doing_it_. Couldn't you have, I don't know, told me about it before?"

I took a deep breath and leaned back. I kept looking at Ryou even as the waitress came up to give us our orders.

Ryou simply looked at me in silence. Then after a few moments, he spoke.

"Choutarou was afraid." He said, grabbing his spoon and taking a taste of his ice cream.

"Of what?" I asked, digging through my vanilla ice cream.

Ryou glanced up at me, before putting the spoon in his mouth.

"Of you."

I almost dropped my spoon at that one. "Why could be possibly afraid of me?"

"Because you're a girl, duh. That's a stupid question." Ryou said. He pointed his spoon at me and talked on. "You and Choutarou have been friends for a while now, right? But there's this fact…you're a girl. Although he thinks the world of you, the fact that you're a girl scared him that you might not understand him or that it might affect you. You got it?" He started taking spoonfuls of ice cream.

I processed that for a few minutes.

Does he think that low of me?

"He isn't thinking low of you, woman." Ryou answered, which made me realize I said that out loud. "He was just worried about you and how you'd take it. Don't blame him. Choutarou's a nice guy." His voice took on a fond tone. "He cares a lot about other people, especially those he loves. He didn't want you to feel…what was it? Like you two are growing apart. He didn't want you to feel uncomfortable about him being that way."

"Besides, he was actually planning on telling you that day we came by your music shop." Ryou added. "But you were sick, so he wasn't able to tell you."

I put down my spoon on my already-empty bowl. "Ok, so I can sort of get why he didn't tell me he was homosexual…but..." I pointed at him. "I want to know how you got in the picture."

"Never mind that." Ryou waved my comment away. I could see a faint blush on his cheek that made me smile. "The thing is Choutarou was just worried about you. You're important to him. So you really should go and talk to him."

At that, a phone rang. We both pulled out our phones at the same time. It was his.

With a jolt, I saw Choutarou's name on the screen of his phone. I plucked it from his hand.

"Hey!" Ryou exclaimed, but I was already answering it.

"_Hello?"_

"And look whose calling."

"_Hime-chan?"_

"Ohtori Choutarou! We-"

Ryou grabbed the phone from me, but I had a strong grip on it.

"_Hello? Hime-chan? Shishido-senpai?"_

"I was talking to him!" I shouted at the guy.

"Not on my phone!" Ryou shouted back. "And besides he was calling ME!"

He stood up, as did I. We both pulled on the phone.

"If you are Chou's boyfriend," I grunted as I pulled. "Then shouldn't you at least be kind to his…best…friend…" My voice trailed off.

If you can all remember, any thoughts or scenes regarding those two always sends me…

Yup, you got it.

The next thing I knew, I slipped and was crashing down on Ryou.

"Oof!" I groaned as I fell on him. From below me, Ryou was cursing a mile a minute.

"Um…can you get off?" He said.

"Oops." I gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry." I got off him slowly. Ryou stood up and offered a hand to me, which I ignored and simply stood up on my own.

"Sorry…about the phone." I said. "I guess it was Chou so I got a bit excited."

I was interrupted when a waitress came towards us.

"Here's the bill." She said. "Who's paying?"

Upon hearing that, I bowed hastily and ran out of the shop.

"Thanks Shishido-san!" I shouted over my shoulder.

--I--

"Damn it. This is the pits!" I muttered to myself as I walked down the stairs on my way to the lunchroom. About halfway down, I stopped and dropped down on the steps. I buried my head in my hands.

Last night Chou called me and long story short, we made up. We weren't able to talk probably because it was pretty difficult to pour out your emotions in the phone. So we hang up, still not talking but definitely will…and soon.

Right now, what is bothering me is about what's going to happen next week.

"Hitomi-chan?"

I looked down and waved at Oishi and Tezuka. I stood up and went down, jumping the last few steps.

"Hi guys, what's up?" I said, trying to sound cheerful.

"Are you ok?" Oishi smiled, not unkindly, just comfortingly. "Have you eaten yet?" Beside him, Tezuka gave me a look.

I nodded and smiled at them. "I'm fine, nothing you need to worry about. As for lunch, I haven't eaten yet."

"Really?" Oishi asked. "Do you want to come with us to the cafeteria?"

I shook my head. "No. I'm fine. I brought lunch. I'm going to eat outside." I said, lying through my teeth.

Oishi bought it. "Well…if you're sure." He turned and walked off. "Ja ne."

I looked at Tezuka, noticing that he didn't come with the vice-captain. I smiled, trying to show him there was nothing wrong.

Tezuka wasn't buying any of my tricks. "Fuji told me something was bothering you yesterday."

I let the smile drop. "Yeah." I admitted. "I was just having an off day. It's really no big deal."

Tezuka looked at me. I inwardly shivered at how…how he seemed to see right through me. "Just make sure you're in good shape for next week's celebration." He gave me a last look before walking off.

"Hai buchou." I called after him.

I sighed. You see, every year all the third-years were responsible for organizing Seigaku's Foundation Day Celebration. The celebration of the day our dear alma mater was founded. Everyone in school helped, but most of the third year students were the ones who did the planning and the managing. That's why all the third-years are required to join a committee and pitch in.

Tezuka was among the overseers, so he's been pretty busy himself. I was good at all that organizing stuff but I wasn't feeling too hot about joining in on a committee as I didn't get along well with a few girls in my year who seem to have it in for me and hate me for no apparent reason. So with Tezuka's help, I was put on the committee in charge of helping out the lower years. I was in the same committee as a few of the girls who hated me, but we were too busy helping out our kouhais to actually bother with one another. Plus, we were all assigned to different sections, so I didn't have to deal with anyone.

I was put in charge of the first years, particularly Ryoma-kun's section. We were actually the first ones to finish organizing our part in the celebration. I'm amazing like that.

Now that I think about it, I should drop by and see how it was going. We might be finished, but I really should check up on them.

I went back up the stairs, my destination set.

--I--

"Suzuki-senpai!" Tomoka and Horio shouted happily and bowed after I knocked at the door and walked in.

"Hi guys." I said, smiling genuinely. I might be in a bad mood but these guys are just too adorable. "How's everyone doing? And by the way, it's Hitomi-senpai, remember?"

Horio and Tomoka nodded, pulling me along to sit on a chair.

"We're good, senpai." Katsuo and Kachiro said.

"But we heard you weren't doing well." Sakuno quietly added.

I fought to keep from frowning. This had Eiji's nosiness printed clearly on top of it. That guy was just too gossipy sometimes.

As I looked at the auburn-haired girl's concerned face, I realized that they were just worried about me and Eiji didn't mean to pry into my personal life.

"I'm fine, Sakuno-chan, don't worry about it." I said, smiling. Lately it seems all I do is smile whether it's real or not. "So, how are the preparations going?"

Ataru, the president of the class, approached me, as did a few others.

"We're doing great, Hitomi-senpai." Ataru said, handing me his notebook. I flipped through it. Inside was a colorful drawing of the school's main entrance, which was decorated with flowers, a banner and some colored paper. I flipped the page and saw another drawing, this time of the walkway leading to the school grounds, which was also decorated.

Our committee was assigned to decorate the main entrance of the school and the walkway. It was a fairly easy job, but I assumed we were going to have to think up a good design that everyone in school can live with.

"Pretty good." I said, examining the design closely.

"Do you think we can finish it in time?" A student asked.

I nodded. "Yup. We certainly can but-"

A knock on the door interrupted me. All of us looked up to see Fuji. He waved at me. Excusing myself, I went with him outside the classroom.

"What's up?" I asked. My mind was still thinking about the decorations, so I wasn't focused when Fuji handed me a folder. I opened it and stared at the contents. After a while I began to realize that the folder had a list of all the booths being set up by each class, a few info about each booth, a map of the grounds, and another map of the grounds this time with drawings on it, a copy of the schedule, and some other papers.

"What are these for?"

Fuji was smiling as usual, but it was more of a pitying smile.

"These are your other assignments for next week." He explained. "Since you were the first ones to finish setting up, it was agreed that you will be given this assignment."

"And what is it exactly?" I said, frowning. I didn't want to create more work for the freshmen.

"You're assigned to be the welcoming committee and you're in charge of helping the guests, showing the guests where they want to go…" Fuji counted off in his fingers. "…answering questions the guests might have, making the hourly announcements in the school intercom…and that's about it." He said, smiling.

I gaped. "B-But…"

"Thanks. You're the best." He walked off.

"FUJI!"

--I--

"Yeah." I spoke into my phone. "So I can't meet you today. Sorry."

"…"

"I know. He just told me, now I ended up adding more work for the freshmen."

"…"

"Ok, I'll call you when I get home. Thanks Chou."

I hung up with a sigh.

"Ne, Hitomi-senpai,"

I looked to see Ataru, Sakuno and Tomoka looking at me from the doorway of the classroom.

"Was that your boyfriend?" Tomoka asked with a grin. Sakuno elbowed her in the ribs.

"If it was, we understand if you go have your date with him." Ataru said, a grin on his face as well.

I chuckled. "No, it wasn't."

"Then who was it?" The two asked.

"My bestfriend." I answered.

"Oh you mean that tennis player from Hyotei?" Ataru asked, as the three of us walked back inside the classroom.

I nodded. Class ended half an hour ago, and the freshman class and I decided to have a meeting to talk about the work Fuji dumped on us. I feel really guilty about having to make my kouhais work like this.

"What guy from Hyotei?" A student named Kyoko approached us.

"Hitomi-senpai's bestfriend, nosy." Ataru said, sticking his tongue out at her.

"Oh." Kyoko said. I think Kyoko is one of the most amusing kouhais ever. She's friendly and knows a lot of second and third years so she gets in on a lot of gossip.

"I heard from one of the senpais that the Hyotei regulars are weird." Kyoko shared. "Their captain is so rich and egotistical that he has his own parking space for his limo in the school."

I chuckled. "That isn't true dear."

"How do you know?" Kyoko asked.

"Her bestfriend is one of the regulars, nosy." Ataru said. "Of course Hitomi-senpai knows."

"Ok ok, quit bickering guys." I said. "It's time to get to work."

"HAI!"

--I--

"Well, well, aren't you looking pretty?"

I turned, with a smile. "Flatterer. I didn't think you'd come."

Chou smiled as he enveloped me in a hug. "Well, I haven't seen you in almost a week, Hime, so I thought I'd come. You look nice."

"Really?" I twirled. My red hair was in a braid at my nape and was tied with a black ribbon. I was wearing a white long-sleeved blouse and a black skirt.

"What's with the gloves?" Chou asked, pointing to the fingerless black gloves I was wearing.

"Oh, nothing. It's part of the get-up." I said.

The truth was I stung myself a couple of times with needles and some other pointy things when I was decorating stuff with my kouhai. I also had a scar on my hand when I accidentally got caught on one of the wires. I wasn't exactly clumsy; it's just that I had an inability to handle pointy things or to decorate anything that requires the use of wires.

"Excuse me."

I turned towards to a couple of parents walking in. After bowing and greeting and answering their questions, they walked inside.

"It's looking good." Chou said, with a soft smile. "Although, I find it hard to believe you're actually working and not being lazy."

I punched him softly on the arm and laughed. "Shut up. Anyway, shall we go in?"

"Oh." The smile on Chou's face disappeared faster than me at a sports meet, and trust me…that is FAST.

"The thing is…they happened to tag along."

I didn't have to ask to find out who 'they' were.

I groaned.

"No, please no."

"Hey, it's that girl we saw in the clubroom!"

I didn't bother hiding the frown on my face as I turned to see the whole Hyotei regulars team.

"Yes Gakuto," This blue-haired glasses-wearing guy said. "And she happens to be Choutarou's friend, so be nice." He looked at me and noticed the way his eyes roamed down. My eyes narrowed as I realized him staring at my legs.

"And what a pretty friend he has." He walked forward and offered a hand, as well as a dazzling smile. "Oshitari Yuushi."

"And frankly, I am not impressed." I said, glaring at him.

"Hey, leave her alone Oshitari. I thought we were here to enjoy."

I noticed Shishido Ryou walk up and I turned to Chou.

"I'm going." I said, pleading that he would let me go. I didn't want to see Ryou after what we talked about yesterday and about me ditching him with the bill. "I still have to check up on the others." I turned and was about to run for it when their captain spoke.

I've always thought of Atobe Keigo as a narcissistic egomaniac and a diva who only cares about himself, and nothing in the world can ever change my impression of him, especially when he said:

"Let's go in anyway. Ore-sama is bored with having to talk to this unimpressive girl. There are more appealing girls worthy of Ore-sama's attention. If you would so kindly as to show Ore-sama where the regulars are, then you can go do the menial work deserving of underprivileged people such as yourself."

You actually have to admire the speech he made, and the fact that he could say it without pausing or even thinking about how ridiculous he sounded. At that time though, I wasn't thinking about his speech-making abilities. In fact, I wasn't even angry.

I turned to him.

Ho.

Ly.

Shit.

Atobe and the other regulars looked taken-aback, except for Chou who was looking at me with fear knowing I was about to say something embarrassing, especially as I always seem to say those three syllables out loud at rather embarrassing times.

I couldn't keep a smile from my face as I said:

"Man, you are gay."

You can just imagine how he took it.

--I--

* * *

A/N: I don't know what got into me when I added that last piece of dialogue. I was just typing and typing when I noticed that I typed that bit in.

Anyway, how was that? I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please don't forget to review.

RaiPhoenix015

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

A/N: I apologize for the long update, but I was busy with my other story "Ballads of the Heart", especially since it's about to end! With this story, though, things are just starting. I hope you enjoy this chappie.

Thanks to those who reviewed!

RaiPhoenix015

* * *

**Hanging by a Moment**

_RaiPhoenix015_

--I--

Things like these always seem to happen to me.

I guess it's because I have a big mouth and all that junk, but that's not to say I don't try. When I know that what I'm about to say will hurt people, I stop myself. It's just that in this case, whether he feels hurt, insulted, embarrassed or whatever, I don't really care.

So I said it, the words spilling from my mouth.

And everyone stared at me, most in surprise, one in shock (of course he is, if someone told you that, you'd be in shock too, won't you?) and the other…well, in defeat actually.

I guess Chou knew me for so long, he already expected me to say something like that.

By the way, you know what?

That has to be the darkest shade of purple I've ever seen in my life. Who knew people's faces can turn that shade?

Ahh, the wonders of the world.

I smiled at Atobe, who was looking angrier by the minute. Then he did something I didn't really expect. He gave Chou the most venomous glare I've ever seen. (That must be because I haven't seen what I look like whenever I glare at others.. Hn..)

I instantly knew I hit a never there. He must think Chou told me about him being gay.

I gave him an innocent smile and tried to redirect his attention to me. "What? Did I say something wrong?" I paused and couldn't help saying. "Oh, so you ARE g-!"

I looked at Ryou, who had come out of nowhere and placed a hand over my mouth. He gave me a warning look.

"Come on Kei-chan." This orange-haired guy... Jiroh, I think was his name, stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm. "Let it slide. Don't hurt Chou and his best friend."

My curiosity was struck when I noticed the way that arrogant guy seemed to deflate at what he said.

And then I did it again.

Well, almost.

I opened my mouth to say something but Chou and Ryou noticed me and pulled me away quickly.

Bummer.

I was a hundred percent sure those two were getting it on.

--I--

"Hime-chan, you shouldn't have done that." Chou scolded me as he and Ryou led me into the school grounds away from Atobe, his boyfriend and those other guys.

"What do you mean she shouldn't have?" Ryou said, glancing sideways at us. He smirked. "If you ask me, Hitomi-chan was right to say that. I mean, that should at least stop Atobe from being in denial about him and Jirou."

I looked at him. "You mean that conceited guy and that orange-haired kid are together?"

"Yes/No."

Chou and Ryou looked at each other, having answered differently.

"What?" Ryou looked at him. "They are TOGETHER. Anyone can see that."

Chou sighed. "Yes. But we really shouldn't say things like that. It's their business Shishido-senpai, not ours."

That's when I noticed something.

For one, I didn't feel the least bit, or rather, wasn't the least bit having my clumsy spell after finding out another couple is gay. I guessed it was only with Chou and Ryou. Second, now that I'm not guarding the front gates, who will attend to the guests? Third, the bandages in my hands are peeking out from under my gloves.

And fourth, I was walking in-between Chou and Ryou.

It wasn't really unusual. In fact, it felt totally comfortable. I mean, I wasn't the least bit edgy with the two of them. And I actually thought I was slowly getting over my clumsy spell. (I almost shouted in joy at that last bit.)

I wondered, why that was so…feeling comfortable with them, I mean.

And then I got it. Chou and I are brain twins. Ryou was this smartass-y kind of guy, while I can be a bit of a b---- myself. Ryou and Chou are doubles partners, meaning they are well-matched.

In short, the three of us are perfectly compatible.

Those made me stop in my tracks.

The two looked back at me.

"Is something wrong, Hime-chan?" Chou asked.

"Um…nothing." I shook my head.

"Yeah so," Ryou walked on, not bothering to wait for us. "Let's get some food. I'm hungry."

--I--

If Ataru, Kyoko, Tomoka, Sakuno and Horio think I don't know they're following me, then they've got another thing coming.

I stood up from my spot on the grass between Ryou and Chou.

"I've got to use the bathroom for a bit." I said to them. After walking away for a bit, I looked back to see them talking to each other. With that I spoke.

"If the five of you don't show yourselves this instant, I swear you won't like what I'm going to do to you."

After a few seconds, the five of them slowly came out from behind a few shrubs and stood in front of me in a line. They looked down at the ground, the perfect picture of innocence.

"I'm not buying the cute act." I said and held out my palm. "Now hand it over."

The five of them looked at each other.

Kyoko was the only one to look at me. "What are you talking about Hitomi-senpai?"

I held out my hand to Kyoko. "The camera. Now." I looked at the others. "Who has it?"

Sighing, Ataru placed his hand in his pocket and pulled out a digital camera. He handed it to me while the others sighed in defeat.

I turned it on and, after a while, managed to delete all of the inappropriate pictures. I handed it back to them. "Thank you." With that, I turned around and walked off.

Had I checked my kouhais carefully, I would have seen Ataru and Kyoko's innocent faces melted into devilish smirks.

--I--

I strolled back to where Ryou and Chou were, only to be grabbed by a certain someone.

"Eiji." I smiled at the redhead. "Do you need anything?"

Eiji smiled back and nodded. "Fujiko-chan asked me to tell you that Minami-sensei is looking for you. He's over at room 108."

"Eh? How come? What about?"

Eiji slung an arm over my shoulders and gave me a wink. "Sorry Hitomi-chan. If I knew what it was, I would've told you. See ya."

With that said, he walked off.

I frowned but then sighed in defeat. It's not like I have a choice now. I briefly considered telling Chou and Ryou I'll be gone for a quick sec, but decided against it. It'll just be a quick trip anyway.

I walked off towards the school building.

--I--

"Ah, Hitomi-chan," Minami-sensei greeted me with a smile as I walked inside the classroom.

"Minami-sensei." I bowed to him and approached him at his desk with a smile.

Minami Hayate-sensei was the kindest teacher in the school. He's in his late thirties and is really handsome, so a lot of the students and some of the teachers in school have a crush on him. I don't though, probably because he's been so kind to me I consider him an uncle. My parents are also good friends with him and his wife and I've also looked after his 5-year-old, kawaii daughter, Iwa, a few times before.

Minami-sensei was also the music teacher in school, and music happens to be one of my most favorite subjects, so I can definitely say I'm one of his best students and his most favorite (I kid you not, it's the truth).

I sat down on the chair in front of his desk.

"What's up, sensei?" I asked. "How come you're here working when you should be outside with the rest of us?"

Minami-sensei grabbed the folders and opened it. "Oh, I just have a lot of work to do, my dear."

"I see." I nodded. "So, do you need anything?"

Minami-sensei smiled. "I was wondering if I can ask you a favor."

I looked at him in curiosity. "What about?"

--I--

I sighed and stopped down to pick up some of the trash. When I stood straight, I leaned backwards to ease my aching back.

"Ugh. Hitomi, out of all the days in the world, why the heck did you suddenly decide to be a good girl today of all days?" I muttered to myself as I placed the trash into my trash bag.

"They said, 'those kind enough to volunteer can come to school tomorrow morning and help clean up the school grounds' and what did I do?" I stuffed a few papers into the trash bag. "I just had to grow a good girl bone today and wake up freaking early to help clean up."

I looked at the still-dirty school grounds, at the other students MAD enough to help, at my almost-full trash bag and at my dirty gloves.

"God, something must be wrong with me today."

"I could've told you that."

I looked behind to see Yuzuki Natsuki approaching me, her trash bag slung over one shoulder and an amused smile adorning her face. I knew she was laughing inwardly at my expense.

I glowered at her.

"Stop it."

She stopped about ten paces away from me, smiling.

"Stop what?"

I glared harder. "Stop laughing at me."

She smiled wider. "On the contrary, Hitomi-chan, I wasn't laughing at you. I just think that it was nice of you to come here and help."

That's Natsuki for you, a bit demeaning and sarcastic at times but she's good. Natsuki's pretty, with short dark curly hair and those small and really cute dark brown eyes, and is also very smart. She can be considered on top of the food chain, as she's president of the Honor Society, a good actress and our resident popular, all-around girl-next-door.

I dropped the trash bag and sat down on the ground, not caring that I was dirtying up my pants.

"I must be sick today or something." I said. "Natsuki, check my temperature. I think I'm coming down with something."

Natsuki chuckled and crouched down beside me. "No, you aren't coming down with something Hitomi-chan. What's up?"

"What do you mean what's up, other than the fact that I must be at death's door after this display of niceness."

Natsuki cocked her head to the side, sending her dark curls bouncing about her shoulders. "Well, something must have happened for you to be acting like an obedient student, when you clearly aren't."

I looked at her. "I don't know if there was a compliment in there or you're just badgering me…but," I sighed. "Yeah, something is wrong. Well, it isn't exactly wrong if you look at it in a way. I guess I just don't know how to take it, so I think of it as something wrong when it clearly isn't."

She shook her head. "You know, Hitomi-chan, I didn't really get that, but…" She stood up and held out a hand to me. "Come on."

I grabbed her hand and stood up, brushing the dirt from my pants.

"Where are we going?"

Natsuki pulled me along. "We're going to eat."

--I--

"So, what's up?" Natsuki asked as she and I sat down on some seats with our burgers, fries and shakes.

"Well," I sighed and started munching on a fry. "The thing is Minami-sensei talked to me yesterday."

"Yeah? What about?" She looked at me curiously.

"Well, the thing is Minami-sensei wanted to ask me a favor if I could tutor his sister-in-law's godson."

Natsuki was in the midst of biting onto her burger but she lowered it and looked at me. "Seriously? Why you?"

I sipped my drink. "Well, I don't really know." I sighed. "Plus, I couldn't turn him down, especially when he was giving me that look."

"You mean the look he gives students and teachers whenever he's asking a favor? That pretty boy look?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I wonder how someone as old as him can still pull a look like that." I sighed again. "So now I'm stuck."

Natsuki gave me a consoling smile. "Tutoring someone isn't that hard, Hitomi-chan."

I gave her a withering look. "So says the salutatorian of the junior class, since freshmen year might I add."

Natsuki smiled. "Thank you, that's actually quite flattering."

"Oh, and promise me one thing." I said as I held out my hand and stuck out my pinky finger. "You aren't going to tell a single soul about this, got it?"

"Well, it actually depends on the circumstances."

"Ok fine, you can ONLY tell them when it's NEEDED and IMPORTANT! Got it?"

She nodded and we pinky-shook on it.

"Does Ohtori-san know about this?" Natsukii suddenly asked.

I hesitated but then shook my head. "No."

"How come?"

"Just because." I answered.

I wasn't about to explain that the reason I wasn't going to tell him was because I wanted to keep something to myself, sort of what he did with his relationship with Ryou.

Call me mean but I don't really care.

It's revenge.

And don't go telling me revenge isn't good. You should know me well enough by now to realize I'm a naturally mean and vengeful person.

Natsuki patted my arm. "Well, at least there's an upside."

"And what good can possibly come of this?" I gave her a disbelieving look.

She grinned. "In case you didn't know, tutoring is considered as extra-credit work. If you're busy with extra-credit work, you have an excuse not to attend after-school sports activities."

I couldn't help smiling at that.

--I--

**(3 days later)**

What am I doing here again?

Oh yeah, because of the tutoring thing.

I sighed as I looked up at the sign.

PUBLIC LIBRARY

…one of the places that I try to avoid. It isn't that I'm afraid of books, but I'm not really a book person. I only go to the library when it's absolutely needed, or when Chou drags me there.

Well, I guess it's about time to meet my maker.

Shifting my bag higher up on my shoulder, I walked inside.

I'm not going to elaborate much on what the whole place look like. You've seen one library; you've seen 'em all.

I walked past shelves and shelves of books, heading towards Table 7 where Minami-sensei told me the guy was going to be.

And that made it worse, the fact that the one I will tutoring will be a guy. I don't have much patience when it comes to other guys, other than family and friends of course, especially when they're total jerks.

I reached Table 6 and kept my eyes peeled for whoever will be sitting on Table 7. If he looked ok, I'm going for it; but if not, I could always say I prefer after-school sports than tutoring…

Like anyone's going to believe _that_.

That's when I noticed that no one was sitting on the Table 7.

Oh great. He isn't here yet.

I paused when I saw a backpack slung on one of the seats. With nothing else to do, I sighed and approached the table. Placing my bag on another chair and sitting down, I waited.

I didn't have to wait long though.

"Ahem."

I turned in my seat.

My eyes almost fell out of their sockets.

I saw the last person I wanted to see.

--I--

I'm guessing you want to know who he is.

Who else could it be?

--I--

"YOU!" I stood up, pointing at him.

Ryou (for who else could it be?) jumped at me and placed a hand over my mouth.

He shushed me. "This is a public library, in case you forgot."

I pushed his hand away and grabbed my bag.

"That's it. I'm leaving; because this is either a joke or I'm in the wrong place."

He grabbed my arm and, despite my subdued but heated protests, he pushed me at the aisle between shelves of science-fiction books and UFO magazines.

"Hey!"

He shushed me a second time. "Shut it!" He proceeded to talk normally, though for some reason he appeared to be struggling. "You didn't make a mistake. I really need a tutor."

I stared at him. Then I did what I did.

I broke down laughing.

Surprised?

If you're not, I'm guessing your getting how my brain works. If yes, then man you're slow.

I was just getting into it when Ryou pushed me.

"Hey!" I gasped at him.

"Have you had enough?" He asked calmly though I could see his face burning.

I shook my head and smirked.

"Actually I was just getting my second wind…but I'm good."

I walked away and threw myself down on Table 7. Ryou sat down across from me.

"So what's the deal?" I asked. "_You_are in need of a tutor? Funny."

Ryou rolled his eyes. "I'm not really in need of a tutor." He said. "I just need someone to teach me."

I grinned. "Uh-huh. So you asked for a _tutor_. Don't be scared of the word, man."

Ryou gave me an irritated look. "I've been missing a lot of classes lately because of tennis practices and competitions, so I'm falling a bit behind. I can't exactly ask anyone in Hyotei-"

"Cause they can't know that _the_ Shishido Ryou needed a tutor." I butted in.

He ignored me. "So I had to get someone from out of school to teach me."

"So you got a _tutor._"

"I had to get someone who wasn't a fan-"

"And can be a _tutor_."

"And someone smart-"

"And can be your _tutor_."

"And someone I know."

"And can be your personal _tutor_."

"So I got you."

"And can be your _tu-_ Excuse me?" I looked at him. "You got me? Why me?"

Ryou gave me a bored look. "You do owe me money when you left me with the tab, and I found out from Minami-san that you're at least smart enough to teach me. It was easy enough to get Minami-san to convince you to teach me. Plus, I know you and I figured I'd be doing you a huge favor when I saved you from having to attend after-school sports activities."

I looked at him. "I honestly don't know whether to thank you or hit you."

"You're welcome." Ryou said with a nod of his head. He shrugged. "Well, your stuck with this, what else can you do? And besides, this is only for a few days until I can catch up. After that, I'll be out of your hair."

I sighed. "I know I'm going to regret this, but…" I grabbed my bag and pulled out my notes.

"Where do we start?"

What have I gotten myself into?

--I--

* * *

A/N: So? What do you think? Please review and I promise I'll try to update as soon as I can.

Thanks a lot.

Rai

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

A/N: OMG! I haven't updated in a long, long, long, long, long time. My golly. I am so sorry. I'm not going to bother and make excuses, because I know you guys must be a bit irritated. All I will tell you is that I had writer's block…oh wait, that as my excuse.

Anyway, I apologize. Here's the fourth chapter. I hope you guys enjoy this.

Rai

* * *

**Hanging by a Moment**

_RaiPhoenix015_

--I--

Ok, so what now?

The truth is, I've lost my train of thought.

Blame the author.

Lazy.

Yup, that's you Rai-sama.

Why did you take so long to update?

Maybe it's because you like Kimiko-san, of your other story, "Perfect Combination", more than me.

Oh, you don't?

Really?

Truly?

Ok, Rai-sama, I forgive you. Just make sure you make me go all 'hai-yah' on Ryou, and then I'll love you again.

Where were we in the previous chapter anyway?

Oh yeah, the tutor thing.

Good thing you still remember, because if you think I'm going to believe that you don't love Kimiko-san more than me, then you've got another thing coming.

Ok, I'll stop hating you now, Rai-sama. Because if I keep on being like this, I have a feeling you're going to make me do something heinous, like kiss Ryou or something.

What?

No!

Rai-sama! No!

FORGIVE ME!

--I--

Where was I?

Oh yeah, that pain in the neck tutoring thing I have to do for Ryou.

Even now I still don't understand how I got roped into this gig, other than Minami-sensei going all pretty-boy on me, and the author forcing me into this. (I still hate you, Rai-sama, forgetting all about me. Boo hoo.)

Anyway, so that's how it started.

A couple of times, Ryou and I would meet up at the public library so I can tutor him. Since it is in secret and he didn't want anyone else finding out about it, the only place we would meet up is either in the library, or in the café two blocks away, and even them we would sit at the back or at the second floor where no one would be able to see us.

It's fine with me. I mean, I don't want anyone seeing me with him anymore than he wanted anyone to see him with me.

People might think we were dating. Ew. Double ew.

It was the fourth time we met up. We were to meet at the café after school that time, not at the library, and I was busy sipping my tea and reading notes while waiting for my student. (I loved calling him that. He's the student while I was the teacher. The first time I called him that he got into a fit for about half an hour.)

I was surprised when Ryou suddenly came over, carrying a tray piled with two large bowls of ice cream, two large plates with moist chocolate cake, two chocolate muffins on the side and two tall glasses of sweet cherry cola.

I removed all the papers, books and notebooks on the table as he placed the tray down with a grin.

I looked at the food.

"Is this the gratitude you're giving me for teaching you? Making me a diabetic? Because I can sue you, you know."

Ryou sat down, the grin still on his face.

"No. Stop being such a drama queen."

"Then what's with the sweet stuff?" I asked, as I picked up a spoon and sampled the cake.

Heavens. It was delicious.

Ryou reached into his bag and pulled out a few papers. He handed them to me. Once I saw them, my eyes widened.

Oh my God.

History. Science. English. Mathematics. Social Studies.

He passed. All of them. He even got a perfect score in History.

"Oh my God." I exclaimed.

Ryou smirked at me, while sipping his cola.

"Yup. I'm good."

I pointed a finger at him, eyes wide open.

"You cheated!"

"Say what!" He shouted back, almost choking on his drink.

"You used crib notes! Or maybe you copied from someone else!"

"I did not!"

"Oh, so you expect me to believe that you really studied for this!"

"Of course I did! You were there, woman!"

"Oh yeah." I smiled at him and brandished the papers in front of his face. "I was just kidding! Congratulations! All the studying paid off!"

Ryou grinned. "Thanks to you."

I waved that away. "Oh please. All I do is push you a couple of times and call you student and now you're crediting me? No thanks. It was too easy. Besides, you aren't that difficult to teach, once I got your attention."

Ryou pointed to all the food. "Well, if you don't want credit, does that mean you won't take the sweets?" When I glared at him, Ryou simply smirked.

I grabbed my half of the food.

"Well, come on. Let's eat."

Ryou nodded and joined in.

As the two of us were getting into it, I had to ask.

"So, how's the team doing?"

Ryou swallowed. "Why do you want to know?"

"Nothing much. I just want to know if your captain and that orange-haired kid are finally getting it on."

"You're very nosy, you know that."

"Yeah, whatever, so?"

Ryou shook his head. "Nope."

I pouted. "Oh man."

"Why are you so interested in whether they hook up or not?"

I smirked at him. "Because I still owe that jerk a good ribbing." Ryou rolled his eyes at that.

A thought crossed my mind and I smirked. Ryou noticed it.

"What is it? Is it legal?"

"Well…" I moved my chair, setting it right beside Ryou. He leaned back. "How about you and Chou? Hm?"

"U-Uh…w-what?"

My smirk grew. I had a feeling I was looking malicious right now, not that I care. Ryou looked so adorable looking nervous and stuttering, and what makes it more fun is that I know for a fact that I'm the only one who can make him act like this.

"You know…" I propped my elbows on the table and placed my chin on my hands. The picture of innocence, not that I think Ryou will buy that.

"How's _it_ going?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow and wiggling it for added effect.

"I-it?" Ryou looked at me, his face heating up.

"Your relationship duh!" I hit him hard on the shoulder. "What did you think it was?" I asked with glee.

Ryou glared at me, and turned away with a huff, though there was still a fine red tinge on his cheeks.

"Aw…was Ryou thinking of something naughty?"

"I wasn't!"

"Really?" I rolled my eyes. "Because I know for a fact that all you think about is tennis, Chou, eating, Chou, Chou and Chou."

"You forgot, annoying Suzuki Hitomi."

"That too." I said.

He smirked at me and I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"Ok, let's cut the chat." Ryou said, grabbing his spoon. "The ice cream's melting."

I smiled and dug in, sharing chit-chat and light banter with the last person I expected to be with.

And it was fun.

A lot of fun.

--I--

"You know, this is weird." I said, as Ryou and I walked in the direction of my house. I turned to him.

"And why do you say that? Because I'm walking you home?"

"Uh no." I said. "Ok, maybe that, but mainly because I agreed to let you walk me home. Me. Suzuki Hitomi. I don't let guys walk me home." I gave him a panicked look. "What was in the food? Don't tell me you poisoned me?"

"If only I could have…" I heard him mutter. I hit him on the shoulder.

"Ow!" Ryou glared at me. "For a girl who doesn't do any sports and thinks breathing is a chore, you sure hit hard."

I stuck my tongue out at him.

"…And childish."

Ryou and I walked in silence.

"Can I ask you something?" Ryou suddenly asked.

"You can ask me about nothing." I replied, pausing to stare at a bakery shop window.

"Aren't you, at all, attracted to anyone?"

I looked back at him. "And why do you want to know? Plus, don't give me the 'you look sad and needing a man' excuse."

He gave me a look. I didn't know if he was playing or being serious.

"Just because."

I looked back at the bakery shop window.

"I'm going inside to buy something for my mom and dad. You want anything?"

He didn't answer. I took that as consent.

"Wait out here. I won't take long."

Less than half an hour later, Ryou and I were standing in front of the gates to my house.

I turned to him with a smile.

"Thanks. Don't think this will be more than a one-time thing."

Ryou shrugged.

"Don't worry. I won't. It's not as if I like walking you home. Just think of this as part of the payment for helping me pass."

I smiled at him. "No prob. Anyway, when's the next session?"

Ryou thought about it. "Today's Thursday, there's practice tomorrow... Most likely, on Saturday."

"Ok." I nodded. "By the way, I got you this." I handed him a box. "A dozen cupcakes. Delicious and will hopefully give you diabetes before we meet for another God-awful tutoring session on Saturday."

Ryou smirked. "Thanks. G'night." He turned to leave.

"Hey Ryou!"

"Yeah?"

"About your question earlier," I started.

Although I was all calm and composed on the outside, inside I was screaming at the monkeys in my brain and pleading for my mortal body to stop in exchange for selling my soul to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. My subconscious pleaded, begged, and groveled, anything at all, to get me stop.

But in the end, it was all in vain.

My body and big mouth seemed to have a mind of their own.

The only thing my subconscious could do was to order my arm to reach out behind me and open the gate for a quick escape after I finish humiliating myself.

Ryou looked at me questioningly.

"You know, about me being attracted to someone." I said. Ryou raised an eyebrow. I bit my lip.

"It's you. I don't know why or how it happened. All I know is that I do. But don't worry. I'll get over it."

I quickly went inside my house, leaving a puzzled Ryou outside.

--I--

I could hit my head on the table.

In fact, I'll do it right now.

Bonk. Bonk. Bonk.

"Jeez, Hitomi."

I felt a hand jerk the back of my collar. I looked up to see an upside-down image of my friend, Yuzuki Natsuki.

"Lemme go." I said. "I have to remove the memory of what I did out of my mind. I was sick! I swear to God, because I wouldn't have done that if I was in a normal state of mind! I had to be crazy-"

"-er than usual." Natsuki said, letting my collar go and sitting on the seat in front of me. "Because you've always been crazy, Hitomi. You were never normal."

I raised a finger and nodded. "Point well taken, but I was an idiot!"

Natsuki looked at me. "What did you do?"

"W-Well…I…Don't tell anyone, ok?"

"Promise."

"Ok, you know that guy I've been tutoring for days now?"

"Yeah?"

"Well…he…I mean, I-I… like him."

Natsuki gasped. "Shut! Up! You like a guy? Really? Truly? That's a freaking miracle!" I glared at her, to which she raised her hands. "Sorry. Sorry. You were saying?"

"Anyway, the thing is…he…he…he has a g-girlfriend! A girlfriend! Who's a good friend of mine! Yup, that's it."

"You know Hitomi, Chou wouldn't appreciate being called a girl, even if it is for you covering up on the fact that you liked his boyfriend." Natsuki said.

"You know?" My eyes widened.

"Not really." Natsuki said. "A friend of mine told me that he saw you with a Hyotei player in the library. It wasn't Chou since everyone knows him, since he's your friend and all that junk, so I assume it was Ryou."

"And of course, there doubles team is well-known, since they are a match for our resident Golden Pair, so I just did the math and that's what came up with. And everyone pretty much knew they were like that, especially since no one, other than the first years, actually believes that all doubles pairs are just 'the very best of friends', our own Golden Pair being a prime example. Plus, one of the janitors, you know the gossipy one that's rumored to spy on students during after-school hours, told me, well more like I forced him, that he's caught them doing it once. Not really doing it, if you know what I mean, more like about to do it. He was sniggering so much, it wasn't funny. He is such a perv."

My eyes widened, having caught everything she said.

"He saw them?"

Natsuki rolled her eyes. "Come on. Everyone pretty much knew that that was the case. Nobody just wanted to bring that up; because it will hit a nerve once any one of the regulars heard it."

Natsuki and I ignored the rest of the students in the class, who were looking at the both of us, having held a conversation in lightning-speed and not allowing any of them to understand what we said.

"So, how did it go? Did you tell him?"

I bit my lip and told her the story rather quickly, very quickly at that. Natsuki nodded, understanding me despite the speed of over a thousand words per second.

"Ooh…" Natsuki made an irritating click-clack motion with her tongue. "That is bad."

I gave her a 'no duh' look.

"So, how are you going to tell Choutarou-san?"

"Uh…not ever."

"Why?"

"You know why."

"Well, I think you should tell him. You know, so that it doesn't blow up in your face, especially since you did confess to Ryou-san…you know what?"

"What?"

Natsuki gave me a pitying look. "You're doomed."

"It took you long enough to figure that out."

--I--

I walked on home alone, contemplating what I was going to do for tomorrow's tutoring session.

Bring it up? Or make like it never happened?

I am such an idiot.

A hand suddenly covered my eyes, which I pulled away.

"Ok, Ryou." I said as I turned. "If you think-"

I inwardly shrieked my head off as Chou's confused face met my eyes and my inner self was shouting so much and calling me such an idiot that my head hurt.

He gave me a look, which is adorable might I add, but is completely making me have this sinking feeling in my gut.

"Ryou?"

I waved my hands as he uttered that word. "U-Um…"

Chou looked at me, his face without expression. "Why did you go think it was Shishido-senpai?"

"U-Um…the thing was, w-we bumped into each other one time…a-and he did that, so I-I thought it was him…and why are you here?"

Chou gave me a smile and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

"I haven't seen you in a while, so I skipped practice to see you."

I looked at him wide-eyed. He's never done that before. "You did?"

He chuckled. "Yup. Why? You don't like it, Hime-chan?"

I shook my head quickly. "Nope." I smiled at him and gave him a hug, something I haven't done in a while. I looked up at him.

"So I have you all to myself for today?"

He nodded with a smile. "Yup."

"Good." I grabbed his arm and dragged him off. "You owe me so much. I don't know where to start."

He simply laughed and followed me.

So for the rest of the afternoon, Chou and I did the things we hadn't done together in a while. We went to the movies, went to the park and to different shops, busted our wallets buying lots of stuff and ate so much we were going to burst.

It was almost ten that night when Chou and I finally reached my house. Mom was at the door.

"Honey! There you are!" Mom said, as she went near. She kissed me on the cheek. "Choutarou, my boy. How are you?" She went over to him and kissed him on the cheek, as well.

Chou bowed politely with a smile. "I'm doing fine, Suzuki-san."

"That's good." Mom smiled. She grabbed his hand. "Well, come on. Come on. Have dinner with us. It's been a while since you visited."

"Mom, it's late. Chou should get home before-"

BOOM!

Drip. Drip. Drip.

I looked up at the dark sky, and wiped the raindrops from my cheek.

"Hmm…rain." Mom said. "All the more reason for you to stay over, honey. I'll phone your mom." Mom practically dragged Chou inside. I followed after them, amused at how excited mom was.

After an enjoyable dinner, with Mom and Dad being the entertaining hosts they always were during times like these, Chou and I retreated upstairs to get ready for bed.

I sat down on my bed, wiping my hair with a towel while waiting for Chou to finish taking a bath. I was surprised when my phone suddenly rang.

I grabbed it and froze when I saw the name.

-Shishido R.-

I stared at the phone and listened to the ringing.

"Hey, aren't you getting that, Hime-chan?" Chou appeared, shirtless and still-wet from the bath.

I quickly grabbed the phone and walked out. I couldn't let Chou hear anything. I quickly went to the study and answered it.

"Hello?"

"_Took you long enough"_

I sat down on a chair. "Chou's here. He's staying over."

His voice took on a slight panicked tone. _"He knows?"_

"Uh no, duh. I wouldn't do that to him. What kind of idiot do you think I am?"

"_A big idiot."_

"Are you holding a grudge just because I like you?"

"_Not really."_

I sighed. "I told you. I'll get over it."

"_I know."_

A pause came. I didn't know what else to say. What else could I say?

"_Why me?"_

I thought about it. Why did I like him? He was rude and abrasive, annoying, and the only person who is par-on-par with me.

"Don't really know." I answered honestly. "I just do, and…I think it's because Chou and I have the same taste."

He chuckled, which made me feel much better and lightened the mood considerably.

"So just wait. I'm sure I'll get over it." I said.

"_Sure. I'll trust you on that."_ He said. I can feel the smile in his words.

"Hey."

"_Yeah?"_

"Just because I like you doesn't mean you'll go all awkward on me, will you?"

"_Hmm…Nah. We are friends, aren't we?"_

"I'm pretty sure we're not." I said with a laugh. "Night. See you tomorrow."

"_Yeah. See you."_

_CLICK_

The door opened.

"There you are." Chou said. "I was looking for you."

"Sorry." I showed him my phone. "I had an important call."

He smiled. "Sure. Now come on." With a sweep, he carried me bridal-style.

"Hey! Put me down!"

"Time for her highness to get some sleep." He said, and with that brought me back to my room and tossed me on the bed.

"Oof." I groaned and glared at him. "If you weren't my best friend I would so hit you right now."

Chou closed the lights and lied down on the futon he placed on the floor beside my bed.

"Now. Sleep, Hime-chan." He yawned. "It's been a long day."

I smiled and reached down from my bed to pat him on the head. "Night Chou."

"Night, Hime-chan."

And I sank down on my bed and closed my eyes. It took me a while to realize I wasn't sleepy, not at all.

I sat up and looked down on Chou who was already knocked out and snoozing peacefully.

With a sigh, I grabbed my phone and brought my knees to my chest. I scrolled down and found Ryou's name on my phonebook.

I placed my phone down and placed a hand on my chest.

My heart was beating fast and my face felt hot.

I shook my head.

For Chou's sake, I was going to try and get over Ryou.

I was. I really was going to try. I'm going to try my hardest.

I will not fall for my best friend's boyfriend.

Or maybe I already did.

So maybe I did fall for him, but I will get over it.

Somehow. Someway.

Can you say cliche?

Ugh.

--I--

* * *

A/N: How was that? I was on serious crack when I did this, especially the part where Hitomi and Natsuki are talking.

I hope you enjoyed this. Don't forget to review. It'll make me feel better and get off crack.

Rai

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

**A/N:** Hey guys! Here's a new chapter. I'll save the Author's note for the end. You guys really have to read that.

I appreciate all the reviews. Thank you so much. I hope you enjoy this chappie.

Rai

* * *

**Hanging by a Moment**

_RaiPhoenix015_

--I--

Morning already.

I yawned and sat up, rubbing my sleepy eyes. After a few hours of twisting and turning, I thankfully managed to get some sleep.

But now I feel woozy.

I glanced down at the bed, seeing Chou still sleeping peacefully.

Jeez. He slept before me and I ended up waking up before he did.

God, how many hours did I sleep? Five.

"Oh God." I moaned and stretched my weary bones before standing up, taking care not to step on Chou.

I just managed to cross over Chou when I felt a hand grab my hand and haul me down.

"Chou!" I managed to let out before I felt hands at my sides.

"No! No tickling!" I shouted, trying to swat away his hands and prevent myself from laughing. In the end, I gave in and fell down on my best friend in a heap of giggles.

"Good morning." Chou said with a smile. He let go of me and chuckled.

I let out the last of my giggles and took a breath.

"Good morning." I said back.

"Slept well?" He asked, stretching out on his bed, like a large cat.

I grinned and nodded. "Yup."

As if I would tell him that I hardly slept because I was thinking about his doubles partner.

"Now, come on." I stood up. "Let's go eat breakfast. I'm hungry."

Chou simply groaned and buried his head in his pillow. I grabbed his hand and tugged on it, but Chou kept himself buried among his blankets and refused to even sit up.

I groaned. "Chou! You're heavy!" I tried to pull him up.

"Look who's talking." He murmured.

"I heard that!"

Contrary to popular belief, my best friend can be a lazy ass, especially during weekends where he had no tennis practice. Everyone thinks he's the obedient and industrious kid, but whenever we're together he can be even lazier than me. And that's saying something.

_Tok…Tok…Tok…_

Chou and I turned to the door. Mom walked in.

"Hey there kids." Mom said with a smile. "Anyone hungry?"

"I AM!" I shouted and jumped up. "Chou isn't hungry yet, so I'll eat his share."

"Hey! No fair!" Chou stood up.

The two of us ran past Mom all the way to the dining room. By the time Mom and Dad arrived, Chou and I were already busy fighting over the food. Dad simply chuckled at us and sat down with the newspaper while Mom placed down more food on the table for me and Chou to squabble over.

It was another good day.

--I--

"Bye!"

I waved as Chou walked off down the road to his house. As soon as he was out of sight, I went back inside the house.

"Mom! Dad! I'm going out!" I shouted, while grabbing my bag off a table.

"Hitomi."

"Yeah, Dad?" I turned to my father.

"Don't forget. You have to manage the store later." Dad said.

"Yup." I nodded. "I'll be there at 6." With that, I put on my shoes and ran outside. Chou had stayed a bit longer than I had thought. I was going to have to run to catch the bus if I don't want to be late for another 'torture-Ryou' session.

But of course, everyone knows I hate running. I was so slow that by the time I reached the bus stop, the bus was out of sight.

I cursed under my breath. I was going to be late. I would never hear the end of Ryou's ranting if I arrive late.

"Now look what happened! We missed the bus!"

I turned. That voice seemed familiar.

My inner self started sprouting an array of colorful words when I saw some of Chou's teammates approaching. Thankfully, they haven't seen me yet.

"Shit." I murmured and look around. "Where do I hide?"

And then they saw me.

"Hey, I know you!"

I froze and turned around slowly. It was the harpy and the blue-haired dude.

"Well, well…" The blue-haired guy went over to me. "If it isn't Choutarou's friend. You are Suzuki Hitomi-san, correct?"

"Uh…yeah." I simply said. "You are?"

"Hah!" The other guy pointed at his taller friend. "She doesn't know you, Yuushi!"

Yuushi turned to him. "It's not as if she knows you either, Gakuto."

Gakuto went over to me. "Hi! I'm Mukahi Gakuto, the best acrobatics player ever and much better than Kikumaru Eiji of Seigaku."

I looked at him weirdly. Didn't he know I was a Seigaku student?

"She's from Seigaku, Gakuto." Yuushi said with a delicate sigh. "You really shouldn't say that."

"Meh. Whatever." Gakuto said.

"Anyway, I am Oshitari Yuushi." Yuushi said with a charming smile, not that I cared. He held out a hand. I didn't take it.

I glanced at my watch. If I go the library on foot, then I might just make it in time, but I have no intention of doing anything as strenuous as that. I guess I could wait for the next bus, and just put up with Ryou's complaints later on.

I looked up at Yuushi and his hand was still held out to me.

"Um…Thanks for saying your name. I would say it was a pleasure meeting you, but in reality it really isn't." I said and sat down. I grabbed a book from my bag and ignored them.

"Man, you're mean." Gakuto said with a frown.

"I know." I said, without looking up.

"And obnoxious."

"Not as much as your captain." From the corner of my eye, I saw Yuushi look at me interestedly.

"And totally un-cute."

"Do you really think I care?" I looked at Gakuto, who simply rolled his eyes at me.

All of a sudden, a weird ringtone suddenly resounded.

Gakuto moaned. "Yuushi, change that ringtone. It's annoying." He rubbed his ear.

Yuushi simply smirked and took out his phone.

"Hello." He answered.

"Who is it?" Gakuto asked, when Yuushi hang up.

"It was Atobe."

"What did he want?"

"He's calling over all the regulars for a meeting." Yuushi answered.

Gakuto pouted. "I thought we had a day off today?"

"Not anymore." Yuushi said.

"Wait." I spoke up. "All the regulars will be there, like your captain and that orange-haired kid, right?" I asked. When Yuushi nodded, I squealed.

"I'll come!"

"Why are you so interested in coming?" Gakuto asked. "And who said you could come anyway? You're not even from our school."

"Now, now Gakuto." Yuushi said, waving a hand. "Don't you think it will be interesting if Suzuki-san comes with us? I'm sure Jiroh would love to meet her, and Atobe would find her very…interesting."

Gakuto took a moment to think about that, and then he grinned. "Oh yeah!" He turned to me. "You can come!"

And that's how I found myself on the bus along with Yuushi and Gakuto on the way to Atobe's mansion.

--I--

"Woah! This is a huge house!" I exclaimed, as the three of us walked inside.

"It's a mansion." Yuushi corrected me.

I looked around wide-eyed. "Well whatever it is, I can't believe it's big and sturdy enough to keep in Atobe's big head." I looked at the marble staircase, vaguely hearing snickering sounds behind me.

"Ohayo senpais."

I turned only to see this guy coming out of a room with a can of cola in his hand. He looked at me. I waved at him.

"Hi. I'm Hitomi Suzuki, you are?"

"H-Hiyoshi Wakashi." He answered, looking at me in surprise. He turned to Gakuto and Yuushi questioningly.

"She's Ohtori's best friend. We decided to invite her along." Yuushi answered.

"Ne Hiyoshi-kun, where's Atobe?" I asked.

Yuushi was the one who answered. "He will most likely be at the courts."

"Then let's go!" I said, jumping up and down. "The sooner we get there, the sooner I can aggravate him."

"Hey guys there's-what are you doing here?"

I turned and saw a surprised Ryou. I went over to him.

"Hey Ryou, Yuushi and Gakuto brought me along. Where's Atobe? And Chou?"

"Uh, at the back." Ryou said. He got over the surprise of seeing me and turned to his fellow regulars. "Jirou... er... collapsed, isn't really the word."

"Ryou, Jirou's the orange-haired kid right?" I asked.

Ryou nodded. "Yeah, Chou and I were playing doubles against him and Atobe."

"Figures." I said with a shrug. "Betcha, he was crushed under the weight of Atobe's ego." I made a motion with my arms indicating a large head.

I heard Gakuto snickering behind me, while Ryou simply grinned.

"Come on now!" I jumped up. "Let's go see his royal big-headed highness."

--I--

"Waha!" I snickered. "I told you he was crushed."

Once the five of us reached the courts, we saw a weird sight. There was Atobe standing over a curled-up Jirou and was telling him to get up.

"I don't wanna!" Jirou whined. "You said we had the day off. How come we have to practice?"

"Jirou." Atobe bent down.

I knew he was most likely just going to haul Jirou up, but I screamed.

"Oh my God, Atobe's going to harass him! Pervert! Sexual harassment!" I shouted.

"Hitomi." Ryou grabbed my arm and was about to pull me back into the house, but it was no use. Atobe saw me.

Atobe straightened. He and Jirou looked at me.

"Sugee! A visitor!" Jirou stood up and ran to me.

I pushed Ryou's hand away and ran over to Jirou.

"Hi!" I smiled at him.

"Ohayo." Jirou smiled back. "Ne, you're Chou-kun's best friend, Hime-chan, right?"

I nodded. "Yup yup! You're Jirou-kun, right? Can I call you Ji-kun?"

He nodded. "Sure."

"Nice to meet you." We said at the same time and shook hands.

"Hime-chan?" Chou appeared. I waved at him with my other hand.

Suddenly Atobe appeared and pushed my hand back.

"What are you doing in Ore-sama's home?" He asked, hands on his waist and glaring at me.

I pointed at Gakuto and Yuushi. "They invited me."

While Atobe was busy glaring at Yuushi and Gakuto, Jirou tugged on my hand.

"Ne Hime-chan, do you like sweets?" He asked. When I nodded, he grabbed my hand. "Come on."

Atobe noticed that he and I were running off.

"Come back here!"

I giggled and followed after Jirou. We ran away from the courts over to the pool, where Jirou grabbed his bag and pulled out two bags of sweets. He handed me one.

"Lollies!" I dipped a hand into the bag and grabbed an orange lolly.

By the time the others found us, Jirou and I were busy sucking on our lollies and laughing from the sugar rush.

Atobe stood over me.

"Ore-sama did not invite you into Ore-sama's mansion." He said. "Now go home."

"B-but… I…" I looked over at Jirou.

Jirou looked at Atobe and shook her head. "I like having Hime-chan here."

Everyone but Jirou saw the smug smirk I gave Atobe.

"Ore-sama and his team are going to have an important meeting, and it does not concern you."

"Meanie!" I stuck my tongue out at him. "Besides, I don't care about what you're talking about. And if you're under the impression that I'm going to be spying on you, puh-lease. I don't care the least bit about tennis."

"Well, you will care about this one." Atobe said. "Because Ore-sama and his team have a match against Seigaku next week."

--I--

"Thank you. Come again." I smiled and handed the man his package.

When the man walked out of the shop, I groaned and sank down on the floor behind the counter.

"God Hitomi. What have you gotten yourself into now?" I mumbled to myself.

Needless to say, I was surprised at what Atobe said, but I didn't show him that. Instead, I rambled on and on, effectively irritating the guy, amusing Yuushi and Ryou, making Gakuto and Ji-kun snicker, weirding (that's not even a word) out Hiyoshi and making my best friend worry.

In the end, Atobe had me forcibly carried and hauled away by his manservant Kabaji, but not before Jirou made me promise that I would go to the match next week so he can see me. Chou and Ryou tried to intervene, knowing that since their opponent is Seigaku it'll be difficult for me, but Ji-kun went all cute on me, so I had to say yes. Atobe then had Kabaji throw me into a limo where I was forced to be taken home.

Not that I went home after that. I purposely led the limo around and around the neighborhood and sat comfortably at the back where I ate all the sweets Ji-kun gave me and making a mess with the candy wrappers and the bubblegum.

I snickered as I thought about the mess I made.

I heard the bell near the entrance ring, so I stood up. I was about to let out a greeting when I saw who was at the door.

"Hey Chou!" I shouted happily.

"Hi Hime-chan." Chou smiled and walked over to the counter.

"Do you need anything?" I asked.

Chou shook his head. "Not really. I just wanted to see how you're doing. Buchou really didn't have to treat you like that."

I smiled. "I'm fine. Really. Besides, I sorta expected that."

"Well, he wasn't too happy with the mess you made of his limo." Chou said, with a small smile. I simply snickered.

Chou shook his head with a fond small. "Anyway Hime-chan, I have to go."

"Sure." I said.

Chou leaned over the counter and reached out to hug me. I hugged him back.

"Love you. Get home quick. It's getting late." He said and with that he let me go and walked off. He waved at me one last time through the store window and disappeared through the night.

I turned and grabbed the keys off the rack. It was near closing time.

I heard the door open.

"Hey." Ryou said, walking into the shop.

"Uh, hey." I said. "Were you after Chou? He just left."

"Really? I didn't see." Ryou shrugged.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What are you up to?"

He rolled his eyes. "Jeez, I come here to do you a favor and you think I'm up to something. Where's the gratitude?" He reached the counter and that's when I noticed that he had my bag with him.

"My bag?"

"You left it, duh." Ryou said, tossing my bag on the counter.

"Hey!" I took my bag and looked at its contents. "I've got my phone here, and my wallet, and my other stuff. You didn't steal anything, did you?"

"Why would I steal your stuff? It's not like you have anything valuable." Ryou countered, as he entered the back of the counter and started fiddling with the radio placed on the table behind me.

"Hey. You're not supposed to be here." I said. I sighed when he simply ignored me and went about looking for my phone in my bag.

"Hitomi?"

"What?" I asked, as I grabbed my phone. Thankfully, there were only unimportant messages and no one had called.

"Are you really going to the match next week?" Ryou asked, sitting down comfortably on a chair after switching the radio station to some rock music.

"Do I have a choice?" I asked as I turned to him. "I did promise Ji-kun, and Eiji-kun and Fuji-kun will be happy when they find out I'm going." I smiled. "Just don't expect me to cheer."

"You? A cheerleader?" Ryou scoffed. "Any team you cheer on will lose."

I hit him had on the head. "Shut up."

"What? It's true." Ryou said with a grin.

I was about to him hard on the head again, when Ryou grabbed my hand. He stood up and gave me a grin.

"No hitting."

I stuck my tongue out at him, making him chuckle. I stared at him. I was standing so close to him that I can feel his breath on my face, can see the glint in his eyes, can see his smile...

Was it possible for him to get anymore cuter?

A side of me was heavily berating me for having those kinds of thoughts, but my other side…

I felt my hand reach up.

I took off his cap.

Ryou didn't speak. He just looked at me.

In the silence of the store that night, I fell so hard.

So...

So...

So hard. It scared me.

I dropped his cap, the soft sound of it hitting the ground bringing me back to my senses.

I quickly picked up his cap and pushed it roughly at him.

"Leave." My voice came out like a whisper as I looked down at the ground. "I still have stuff to do."

Ryou didn't answer. He simply walked out.

I heard the sound of the door close.

And for some reason, the sound of it ached.

I don't know if he knew what was going on with me at that moment. Maybe he did. Maybe that's why he thankfully didn't say anything.

My legs felt like jelly and the next thing I knew, I fell down on the ground hard.

I placed a hand on my chest, feeling my heart beat.

I have to find a way to get over him.

I have to.

But how can I when just looking at him makes me fall harder?

* * *

**A/N:** WAH! Help me! I have a dilemma on my hands! NO!

Ok, at first this story was really, REALLY AND TRULY, intended to be RyouxChoutarou. But now that I'm getting deeper into the story, I am starting to think of RyouxHitomi!

NO!

I mean, it's not that I don't like the pairing. If you noticed, Ryou has been having more screentime than Chou, and he's always with Hitomi, but…

It was supposed to be between Ryou and Chou.

Sniff…sniff…

I seriously have to think about this, because the next chapter is critical. CRITICAL!

Oh, and please don't forget to review. Thank you.

Rai

P.S. Help?

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

A/N: Hi guys! Wassup? This is a bit longer than my usual chapters, but I had SO much fun making it! (laughs insanely) When I was typing, I just went on and on and on and on. It was crazy! But I love this chapter! So I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I had fun making it. It didn't turn out to be the CRITICAL chapter, although that's what I said in the last chapter. I just couldn't resist writing something like this.

Caution though, beware of some cuss words. There isn't much but still…I don't cuss in real life, only when I get surprised and all that, but I was so high when I typed up that certain part. Plus, I didn't think it was OOC for Hitomi since...ah! I shouldn't say more!

Thank you very much to those who reviewed! I enjoyed reading your comments, and the pairings you want. I hope you all enjoy this and review.

Enjoy.

Rai

P.S. The CRITICAL chapter is the next one. I'm partly sure of that...Hmm...

* * *

**Hanging by a Moment**

_RaiPhoenix015_

--I--

What the hell am I doing here again?

I sighed as I saw the mass of people going into the park, excitedly anticipating the match between two of the best tennis teams in the nation.

I seemed to be the only one dreading to watch it.

Pathetic.

But still, I made a promise to a friend and when Eiji-kun and Fuji-kun heard about it, they were pretty excited.

And at least Natsuki offered to come with me to make it less painful.

Speaking of which…

"Wow! You came!" Natsuki looked at me wide-eyed as she approached. "I wasn't going to be surprised if you bailed out on me."

"Whatever." I muttered. "And why are you dressed like that? You look like a fan wearing the school colors."

"What? It doesn't look bad and I am a fan." Natsuki pouted. She was wearing a blue and white striped shirt, almost the same shade as what the regulars would be wearing, denim shorts and black boots.

I rolled my eyes.

"Man, you are in a foul mood today little missy." Natsuki commented.

"What do you expect?" I bit back. "Me? At a tennis match? My parents cracked up laughing when I told them. They thought I was joking!"

"There, there." Natsuki patted me on the shoulder. "But hey, for someone who doesn't go to sports competitions, you sure are dressed for one."

"That's because I didn't want to wear anything that has the school colors of either Hyotei or Segaku in it." I crossed my arms angrily. "Out of all the clothes Chou and I found in my closet that didn't have school colors, this was the only clothing that we could both agree on."

Natsuki laughed. "Well, you look nice."

I was wearing a red sun visor, a red and white hoodie, brown cargo pants and red runners. The sun visor was my own touch. I started wearing caps to these kinds of things because of the incident that happened when I watched my first ever match in which Seigaku was playing, which was really the second match I watched because the first was one was when Hyotei played.

Some of my classmates were so surprised at me, Suzuki Hitomi, coming to a match, that a ruckus erupted on the stands. We were told to keep quiet and I was the one blamed for it. It was the gossip topic for weeks, and that incident would still pop up in conversations during sports meets.

Ugh.

"Well, shall we go in?" Natsuki asked. She bounced on the soles of her feet. "I am so excited to watch!"

"Why?" I asked her as we melted with the crowd on the way to the tennis courts.

"What do you mean by that?" Natsuki glared playfully at me. "We are going to watch a match between our school and one of the best schools ever. Oh, I hope we win."

I rolled my eyes. "What's the point?"

"Of winning?" Natsuki stopped and looked at me with wide-eyes. "Winning is- Oh God. Why am I even explaining it to you?"

"No really." I poked her on the shoulder as we walked on. "How come everyone wants to win so badly? If you lose, you can always win again, right? And if you win, sooner or later, you're going to lose. What's the point of getting so fired up? The same thing happens in all the matches I was dragged to."

Natsuki looked at me intently. "You seem to be asking a lot of questions."

I gave her a bored look. "What's wrong with that?"

Natsuki placed an arm over my shoulders. "Wait until you watch the match, then you'll know why winning is that big a deal."

The two of us reached the courts. As expected, there were a lot of people there, spectators and fans young and old, reporters, photographers and members of the media, tennis players. There were all types of people there.

"Sugoi. So many people." Natsuki soaked up all the tension and electric excitement in the air.

"Jeez." I muttered to myself before sitting down on the stands.

"Ah. Not there!" Natsuki pulled on my arm. "This is the spectator stands for regular audiences. Let's sit there with everyone." She pointed to the seats where most of my classmates and schoolmates from Seigaku were.

"Um, in case you've forgotten, I am a Seigaku student who has a best friend in Hyotei. I can't take sides." I rolled my eyes.

"I'm sure Choutaou-san will understand." Natsuki tugged on my arm.

"No." I pulled my arm free from her. "You can sit over there. I don't mind."

Natsuki looked back at the stands where our fellow Seigaku students were. She turned back to me and sat down beside me.

"No. I'll sit with you." She said.

"You sure?" I asked. In truth, I really wanted her to sit with me. Nothing's sadder than being forced to go to a place like this than being forced to go and sitting alone.

"Yeah." Natsuki shrugged. "It's rare that I can watch a tennis match with you, so I'll stay here."

"Suit yourself." I pretended to look nonchalant, but I inwardly smiled.

"Mou…I'm hungry." Natsuki muttered.

"Here." I fished out a bento from my duffel bag. "I brought lots of food."

"Eh?" Natsuki grabbed the bento and looked inside. "How come you packed food?"

"Too many people in the stalls." I muttered.

This was another lesson learned from experience.

I was once dragged by Eiji and Fuji to one of their matches. I forgot which team they were playing but all I know was that watching them made me hungry. When I walked around looking for food, everywhere I looked there was a crowd. I had to suffer watching that match for almost four hours before Eiji and the others fed me at Kawamura-san's sushi place.

"Wow. This is the life." Natsuki grinned and ate the food. "What else did you bring?"

I placed my bag in-between us and allowed her to rummage through it.

"You brought so many snacks! You even brought a thermos of tea!" Natsuki grabbed a box of chocolate cookies and started munching on them. "You are so amazing, Hitomi."

"Yeah. I know."

Suddenly we heard the sound of screaming.

"Uh-oh. Showtime." I stood up. "Come on Natsuki."

"Eh? Well, as much as I want to see them, I'll stay behind and guard the seats." Natsuki said, waving her hand for me to leave.

"You sure?" I asked. When Natsuki nodded, I gave her a small wave and walked off.

I pushed through the crowd gathered near the entrance. God. Now I know how a pack of sardines feel like. I was crushed among the throes of people, pushed and pulled back and my feet have been stepped on so many times I feel as if they're as flat as pancakes.

"Let me through. Goddamnit!" I tried to get around a few girls screaming their heads off as the Hyotei regulars walked past.

I was shocked when a hand grabbed my arm. The next thing I knew was pulled out of the crowd into the arms of someone familiar.

"Hime-chan!" Jirou smiled and pulled me away from the fangirls, but it was in vain.

The nearest girl grabbed my other arm and jerked me back making me fall down on my butt.

"Jirou-kun! WAH! You're so cute!" She screamed as another girl joined in.

"Hime-chan!" Jirou tried to get around the girls, but one of the girls tried to clamp herself on him. He swerved to the left to avoid her.

"Ji-kun!" I called out.

Oh God. Stupid fangirls.

"Jirou." Ryou came over and grabbed his teammate's arm, pulling him away from the frenzied girls.

Oh great. Can't they see I'm the one on the ground here?

"Why can't you girls shut up?" I shouted.

The girls turned to me and almost everyone in the vicinity did the same, not that I cared.

"Who are you anyway?" One of the girls, wearing a short mini and had several pounds of make-up on, turned to me. She crossed her arms over her obviously fake boobs and glared at me. The rest of the Slut Brigade piled behind her, making an effective barrier between me and the two guys.

I stood up and brushed off my pants. Everyone was staring at us. I visibly smirked. In a way, this was what I lived for, a verbal banter. Heck, if I can beat Ryou, what made these Barbies think I can't beat them?

But other than that, I was feeling so damn angry and frustrated today. A fight like this will be a good way to blow off some steam.

"What? Can't talk back?" Another girl piped up.

I crossed my arms and gave them a venomous look, a devilish smirk perfecting the picture. They took a step back.

Jeez. My venomous look wasn't even on full-blast. What a bunch of sissies.

"Listen." I took a step at them, making them all step back again in unison. "I had to get up freaking early in the morning to be here! All I wanted was to watch the game! Now before the freaking game even started, a bunch of monkeys dressed in Barbie suits trample all over me!" I shouted at them.

Some of them backed off, but most stood their ground. I was almost impressed.

"W-Who are you anyway?" The girl who tried to jump Jirou shouted back at me. I almost pitied her. "A-And you don't have the right-"

"To what?" I asked her. She flinched. "To insult you? To humiliate you? You were doing a damn good job of that when you were falling all over yourselves to touch them! You could have just asked nicely! God!"

"Hitomi." I looked back to see that Natsuki appeared. She grabbed my wrist. "Come on. Calm down. Don't make trouble. Let's go."

"Yeah!"

"Go! Run away!"

"Leave!"

Some of the girls seemed to have gained some confidence at seeing someone trying to pull me away. But then one of them said the wrong thing.

"You two whores get the hell outta here!" The ringleader said.

I almost laughed out loud. If there was one thing you cannot call Natsuki, you cannot call her the w- word, maybe the b- word, but never the w-.

"What the hell did you call me?" Natsuki stomped towards them. She looked murderous right now.

Woot! Go Natsuki!

"What's going on here?" I turned to see the Seigaku regulars approaching led by Eiji and Fuji.

"Moron!" A girl shouted

I turned back to the action just in time to hear Natsuki call out:

TOOT

Ooh. That was harsh.

TOOT

TOOT

TOOT

TOOT

Not many people knew it, but Natsuki knew a lot of swear words and insults. She's got a neighbor who loves to cuss a lot, plus she learned some from me. She hardly uses them though, being on the honor roll and a good student. But she's always wanted to get into a verbal joust like this.

TOOT

TOOT

TOOT

TOOT

The Seigaku and Hyotei regulars approached the crowd, as did some guards.

"Sugoi." I muttered to myself. This was the first time I've caused this big a ruckus.

"There is nothing wonderful or amazing about this." Ryou appeared, grabbing my arm. I saw Eiji clamp a hand over Natsuki's mouth to prevent the continuous barrage of words as Fuji and Oishi pulled her away.

"Woah. Woah. Calm down everyone." A guard came up. "Let's save the excitement for the game." A guard placed a hand on the shoulder of the Slut Brigade's ringleader.

"Hime-chan!" Chou's voice reached my ears.

Damn. I must be worrying him by now. I turned to his direction.

"Hey!"

I turned just in time to get a hard slap on the face from the ringleader. It wasn't just the slap. The girl's freaking ring grazed my cheek.

"Hitomi!" Ryou pushed the girl away.

"Damn you!" Natsuki's voice rang out. I vaguely saw her being pulled back by Eiji, Fuji, Momo and Oishi. Her arms and legs were flailing everywhere.

I was surprised when I felt arms around me and a soft hand place something on my bleeding cheek.

"Chou?" I looked up at him. Chou had a serious look on his face.

"Place this on your cheek. It's bleeding." He said. His voice was soft, but his eyes were steely.

He turned and approached the girl who slapped me. She was being held back by a guard.

"Sonny. Calm down." The guard said.

"I won't hurt her." Chou told him. The guard backed off instantly at the look in his eyes.

"I…I…" The girl looked up at Chou, his height and the look on his eyes making him seem so dangerous right now.

"I won't ask you to apologize." Chou said, the tone of his voice silencing everyone. "Because even if you did, it would be useless since it won't mean anything."

He looked down at her. His voice grew louder.

"But you will not slap her! You will not hurt her! Ever! Do you understand?"

Everyone was shocked, even me. It's been a long time since I last saw Chou this angry.

The last time I saw him so angry was when we were nine. The guy I first had a crush on completely humiliated me by making fun of me in front of all our classmates. I was about to punch him, but Chou did it before I could even move.

That was one of the first major instances that really strengthened our bond.

And now he did it again.

Everyone knew I'm a tough girl and completely capable of taking care of myself, but Chou always ends up protecting me and defending me at times.

I smiled inwardly.

"Ohtori." Atobe's voice rang out.

"Come on. We have a match." Ryou called out.

Chou didn't budge. The usual kind and polite expression on his face was gone.

I grabbed his hand. He snapped out of it.

"Come on." I said softly.

With that, we left.

--I--

"OW!"

"Shut it! You're the one who had to go and start a fight!" Ryou shouted at me.

I glared up at him. "I did not start a-Shit!"

"Stop moving, Hitomi-chan. It's going to sting more if you keep moving like that." Fuji muttered as he rubbed some medicine on my cheek.

"But it hurts!" I whined.

Right now, Natsuki and I and almost the whole Hyotei and Seigaku regulars were gathered to one side of the courts.

"Here Hime-chan." Jirou pulled out a lollipop from his pocket and handed it to me.

"Thanks." I took it and stuck it in my mouth the same time Fuji pounced on me and placed the cloth over my cheek.

"OW!" The lollipop dropped from my mouth only to be replaced by a string of curse words, making most of the people back off.

Trust me. I know a lot of curse words, some in a different language, though mostly English and some Mexican and Spanish from all the movies I watched.

"My goodness, so many languages" I heard Fuji mutter. He laughed.

"Ne, Hitomi, think you can teach me some of that?" Natsuki asked.

"No! Don't listen to that Echizen!" Momoshiro shouted, clamping his hands over his kouhai's ears. Eiji covered Momo's ears, only for his to be covered by Oishi. Inui did the same with Kaidoh. Taka-san simply turned around and shook his head.

"Nice." Gakuto grinned. "I've never even heard some of those-Yuushi!" He shouted, as the taller one covered his ears. Hiyoshi simply placed his own hands over his ears.

"Sugee. So many words." Jirou muttered. Ryou placed a hand over his ears, knowing full well that Atobe would pop his top once he found out Jirou knew cuss words.

"Hime-chan, no more cussing please."

I immediately shut up.

Choutarou approached us, his face and hair wet.

"Thank God she stopped." Ryou murmured, letting go of Jirou.

"What happened to you?" I asked, the stinging pain forgotten for a bit.

"I thought I would go and cool off." He wiped his face and smiled at me. He turned to Fuji. "Is she ok, Fuji-san?"

"Don't worry. It's nothing permanent but the scratch is a bit deep.Though I'm sure Hitomi-chan will be fine." Fuji said. He took the cloth off my cheek. I flinched, but kept my mouth shut in Chou's presence. Fuji patched up my wound and stood up.

"Arigato." Chou gave him a half-bow. He turned to me. "As for you, what were you doing arguing with someone?"

"Nothing." I mutter. "It was my fault."

If there was one vital thing I found out about Chou's temper, it's that talking back to Chou when he was angry is never a good thing. Although I was older than him by a year, he scolds me like he was my mother.

"Regulars!"

Everyone turned to Ryuuzaki-sensei, Tarou-san, Tezuka and Atobe.

"Because of the intrusion," Ryuuzaki-sensei spoke, sending me a pointed look to which I mouthed a silent 'gomen'. "The match has been pushed back for a half hour. We have enough time to prepare until then."

"Ok. We'll leave now. Sorry for taking up your time." Natsuki said. She bowed to everyone and then grabbed my hand.

"Ah. Wait!" I called out.

"I'll see them off." Chou's voice rang out. His tone was so serious nobody, not even his coach or Atobe, stopped him.

--I--

"You shouldn't do that, Hime-chan. You could have gotten seriously hurt."

"I know." I looked down on the ground.

"What if we weren't there? What if I wasn't there?" Chou continued on.

I simply looked down, accepting the lecture.

Chou and I were standing away from the courts and the crowd, just the two of us, after Natsuki offered to leave us alone to talk.

"I'm sorry Chou." I said, looking up at him. "Really, really sorry."

He sighed, but his face was still serious.

I bowed. "Gomenasai!" I said.

I felt him pull me up and hug me tight.

"Ok. Fine. I forgive you." He said.

I hugged him back. "Sorry." I mutter.

"Jeez. I was so worried." He said, pulling back and patting my head.

"I won't do that again." I said with a nod. "…unless necessary."

"Good enough." Chou muttered. "Anyway, I'd better go. I've got a match remember?"

I nodded. "Ok."

Chou pouted. "What's this? No kiss for good luck?"

I laughed and gave him a peck on the cheek. "There. Good luck. Love you. Make me proud."

"Love you too. I'll do my best." With that, he gave me one last hug and ran off.

--I--

I will never ever forget that match.

I am not a sports fan that's true. But watching them play, watching them give their all, watching them work so hard and strive to reach the win…

It was breathtaking.

I would never ever forget that look on their faces; all of them, when they stepped on that court, when they hit all the hard shots, when they score all the points, when they get nearer and nearer to winning…

Ok, so maybe I won't be able to remember all of those faces and expressions. Maybe even by tomorrow I would've forgotten that shot they did, that move they pulled off, that jump they took, that winning score.

But still…

For someone like me, who doesn't play a sport and can't play a sport to save my life, I found myself surprisingly moved by all that.

By everything.

I didn't cheer. I didn't even get up from my seat. I sat there.

I just sat there and I watched in silence.

I absorbed everything.

And I thought…

Winning wasn't really the big deal. It wasn't the real reason why they worked so hard and played as if there was no tomorrow. They didn't play just to be able to have another trophy on the trophy case. They didn't play just to win, or to lose, or to be better than someone.

They play so that they can see how much they've learned, and how much they still need to learn.

They play because it's their passion.

Ok, so they play because they want to win.

But why do they want to win?

It's because at the end they want all their efforts and hard work to mean something.

At the end, they don't want any regrets.

No regrets that they didn't give their all. No regrets that they didn't play the best they can.

What I said before, I was also right.

If you lose, you can always win again and if you win, sooner or later, you're going to lose.

There will be winners, and there will be losers.

That's how it is.

That's how life is.

So maybe that's why a match isn't just a match sometimes.

Sometimes a match, it's how life is.

You win some. You lose some.

But no regrets.

Not when you win.

And not when you lose.

--I--

"Hitomi?"

"Um…yeah?" I looked up at her.

"The match is over. Shall we go congratulate them?" Natsuki asked.

I looked back at the courts, where the regulars were all shaking hands. There was an obvious aura of sadness in the air, but I couldn't see anyone who was not smiling.

I smiled. "Nah. I'll stay here. You go on."

"Sure?" Natsuki asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. I'll be fine."

"Catch you in a bit." With that, Natsuki ran off.

I looked down at my hands.

It's unbelievable that it took a match between Seigaku and Hyotei to make me realize so many things. Maybe that's why they're one of the best teams in the nation.

I smiled.

I was surprised when I felt arms hug me.

"Eh?" I looked up to see Chou's face.

"We lost." He muttered. There was a mix of sadness and happiness in his eyes.

I moved his arms off me and stood up. I gave him a big hug.

"You played so well. I'm very proud of you." I smiled up at him.

"Sugee! HUG!"

Chou and I almost fell over when Jirou suddenly glomped us.

I laughed. "Here." I gave him a big hug.

"What's going on?" Gakuto's voice piped up.

I looked up to see the entire team. I smiled.

They all did so well. Win or lose. I think they are real winners.

"Here!" With a laugh, I ran over and hugged Gakuto.

"What the-" Before Gakuto could say anything else, I let him go and jumped up to hug Yuushi.

"Hime-chan's giving out hugs!" Jirou clapped his hands happily.

"And one for you!" I hugged Hiyoshi, who blushed so red I giggled.

"What's going on here?" Atobe suddenly appeared.

"Come on, Hime-chan." Jirou smiled at me. I nodded. The two of us looked at Atobe and grinned.

"Why are you looking at Ore-sama like tha-?"

"WAH!"

With no warning, Jirou and I ran to him and pounced on him.

"HUG!" I shouted with a laugh. "And one for Kabaji." I said as I hugged him.

"Hey, where's my hug?"

I turned to see Eiji. I shook my head.

"Later."

"Nya, Oishi! Hitomi-chan, won't hug me."

I suddenly glomped him. "Just kidding!" I laughed. I turned to the other Seigaku regulars. "Ok, who's next?"

"Echizen!" Momoshiro pushed the freshmen at me.

I laughed and gave him a big hug, making him blush, then Momoshiro, who happily hugged me back, then Inui, though it was only quick because I started feeling uncomfortable when he started muttering to himself about percentages and stuff. After that, I hugged Taka-san, who blushed and hugged me back awkwardly, then Kaidoh, who went all stiff and blushed so red I giggled, then Fuji, who hugged me back softly. Eiji and I then ganged up on Oishi, who suffered almost a minute of not breathing from our hug. Last was Tezuka, I wasn't sure about giving him a hug, until Fuji and Eiji joined me. The three of us jumped him and it was the first time I've ever seen him embarrassed.

"Sugoi." I looked at all of them after my hugging spree. "That was so amazing. That was the best match I've ever seen."

"That's because you've only seen a handful of matches." Ryou's voice popped up.

As everyone laughed, I glared at him.

"So what? It was the most amazing thing I've ever watched!" I gushed like a fan. "It almost made me think about taking up a sport."

"That's saying something." Gakuto muttered.

I turned to all of them. "Seriously, it was so great. Everyone played amazingly. You're all winners! Everyone!"

Everyone smiled, and I smiled back happy to have lightened the mood.

"Well, there is an after-party after this at Ore-sama's mansion." Atobe spoke up. "You are all welcome to come and to invite friends as long as-"

"Sugee! Party!" Jirou ran over to me. "You'll come, ne Hime-chan?"

"Can I?" I looked over at Atobe. He didn't answer. "Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I?"

"YES!" He shouted. "Do whatever you want!"

Eiji glomped me. "Nya, let's go party!"

* * *

A/N: So? How was it? I enjoyed this so much! And I think I'll enjoy the next chapter much more, though expect it to be dramatic and all.

As for the pairing…

I think this is coming off as a 'trying-to-please-everyone' statement, but I have decided on making a dual ending, one with a RyouxHitomi and another with Silver Pair.

Why?

Because I just thought of the perfect ending in both circumstances! Yes! Ok, so I think it won't really be the prefect ending, but it's the ending I want. Plus, I have an obligation, since I did decide on Silver Pair. It's just along the way I guess I started liking RyouxHitomi pair.

Though the truth is I don't really like stories with dual endings. I much prefer sticking to the original pairing since that is what was decided upon in the first place. But I guess I'll bend my rules just this once.

This way, everyone's happy, and I'm so super happy to make two endings that satisfy me.

But all credit goes to **xzlioness** for suggesting that in the first place. As I said, making dual endings isn't in my rulebook. If nobody told me, I would never have thought of that in the first place. That's how much I don't really like dual endings.

I've decided that Silver Pair ending goes first, frankly because it's the original pairing. RxH goes after that.

So? Is everyone happy?

I hope everyone is, because I am. WAH!

Anyway, review please and tell me what you think. And if anyone hates me over this decision, I don't care much.

Take care everyone.

Rai

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

A/N: Hiya guys. Wow. It took me a while to update. Arg! Anyway, here's the next chapter. This is just part 1 of everything that's happening. The original version I made was a lot longer than this one, but I chopped off some boring parts and put the other parts in another chapter. So expect part 2 to come sometime soon, because I'm actually in the midst of making it.

Hope you enjoy! Thanks to those who reviewed.

Rai

P.S. The Author's Note at the end contains some…not exactly spoilers…just a few clues to the next chapter.

* * *

**Hanging by a Moment**

_RaiPhoenix015_

--I--

Chou let out a little chuckle. "Hime-chan, stop bouncing on your seat."

"Yeah, it's annoying." Ryou said, staring at me with a bored look on his face.

I stuck my tongue out at him. "It's not my fault I'm excited, plus we're in a limo. This is my first time to ride in one." I looked out the window, then back inside. All four of us were seated comfortably on different corners of the spacious vehicle.

"Well, trust me, that party's not that big a deal." Ryou said. "We have to bust our asses finding nice clothes to wear every single time he holds these kinds of parties."

"Well, that's you guys. You're rich." I replied. "And usually I'm not into stuff like this, but I'm feeling pretty good."

"Really?" Natsuki peered at me, with a curious look. "What difference a match could make, eh? I've never seen you so excited."

"It's not really that, is it?" Chou asked, giving me a look. I pouted. He knew me too well.

"Fine." I leaned back on my seat. "The only reason I'm excited, apart from bothering Atobe, playing with Ji-kun and Eiji-kun, irritating Atobe, teasing Gakuto, Tezuka and Ryoma, plotting with Fuji-kun, annoying Ryou, spiking the drinks with Inui, making Momo and Kaidoh fight, aggravating Ryou, dancing even once with Chou, is to sample the food."

And possibly get that infuriating, pompous Atobe with dear, sweet Ji-kun.

"That was a mouthful." Ryou commented. "All that stuff and you came for the food, and I heard my name somewhere there."

"Well Hitomi," Natsuki gave me an impish look. "Don't you think this will be a good chance to scope out some cute guys?"

At her words, the first thing I thought about was 'a good chance to scope out some couples, particularly tennis regulars on Hyotei and Seigaku', but what she meant quickly dawned on me.

"Cute guys?" I echoed. "Puh-lease." I rolled my eyes. "As far as I'm concerned, the only guys in my life are Dad and Chou, but…" I trailed off. My thoughts flew to a certain someone and I shook my head.

"Yup. No cute guys." I said to save face. Natsuki kept up her impish grin.

"Besides, it's not like anyone's going to notice an unattractive girl like you or hit on you or anything." Ryou spoke.

I gaped at him. "Shut up!" I shouted at him, glaring at him.

"Shishido-senpai." Chou said warningly. Ryou shrugged in apology. Chou turned to me with a soft smile. "Besides, you look very nice, Hime-chan. You have nothing to worry about." I couldn't help smiling at that.

I am actually surprised that I would agree to dress up so easily. Usually, I hated parties and crowds and loud noises, but I was fine with it for tonight. Besides, I could make an exception for today, after the way my best friend and the others played.

I was wearing something Natsuki picked out from my closet. Although I agreed to come, I didn't know how to, as Atobe put it before 'dress appropriately'. After all, he did live in a mansion.

I was wearing a black sleeveless turtleneck, denim low-rise jeans and black ankle boots. My straight red hair was mostly covered by a denim newsboy cap. It was sorta my style but it looked a bit model-ish. Natsuki said I just wasn't used to looking nice and sophisticated. I almost hit her for that.

Chou then turned to Natsuki. "You look very nice too, Natsuki-san, and thank you for helping dress up Hime-chan."

I had to admit, Natsuki looked great too. Well, she was the one who dressed me up in the first place.

Natsuki, all elegant and poised, was looking very much in her element. She wasn't exactly well-off, but she wasn't rich either. It was surprising how much she knew, or maybe she was just really into fashion.

She was wearing a red sleeveless Chinese-style shirt paired with a black miniskirt. On her feet were tie-up black sandals. Her short dark curly hair was in a bun secured by a small clip in the shape of a golden fan. Plus her small and really cute dark brown eyes made her look like a native Chinese, a very rich Chinese.

"Oh, thank you." Natsuki smiled back. "Believe me, it was actually quite easy dressing her up. With her figure, Hitomi is actually pretty in any ensemble." She gave me a look; sort of like the look little girls get in their eyes when they play dress up with their moms or their Barbie dolls.

Did I forget to mention that Natsuki made me change entire outfits around seven times before we decided on the first outfit I tried on? Plus ten seconds before we went in the limo, we were still debating on the cap. I mean, who wears a cap indoors? From what Natsuki said, apparently rich people do.

"I can't imagine that." Ryou muttered. "Plus, I didn't even know she had a figure to begin with."

I glared at him, then grabbed the pillow beside me and tossed it at him. He caught it easily.

That's when I really noticed what he was wearing. He wasn't wearing his cap, which made him look cute, not that I'd tell anyone. He had on this black dress shirt with two buttons open at the top, revealing most of his neck and dog tag necklaces. It was finished off with fitting cargo pants and normal black sandals. I noticed he had a toe ring on the big toe of his left foot.

In all honestly, think the dog tags suited him. I mean after all, if he gets lost it's a great help to his caretakers, I mean parents. I silently giggled at that.

"We're almost there." Chou said.

From this angle, Chou looked great. Chou was wearing a white dress shirt with the sleeves pulled up to his elbows and the buttons open at the top to show the cross necklace he always wore. That was paired off with light brown chinos and black sandals.

"Ne Chou." I leaned over to him.

"Yeah?"

I cupped a hand over his ear and whispered. "You look very handsome." I giggled when he blushed. He smiled in gratitude.

"We're here." Ryou announced as the limo passed by the mansion's gates.

--I--

"Wow! I've been here before, but I still can't get over how big this place is." I looked up at the mansion after I got out of the limo with Natsuki and the guys. I could hear faint music from somewhere.

"Let's go." Chou said, as we walked up the steps to the front door.

"Come on in, Ohtori-sama, Shishido-sama." The maid said, as she and the butler bowed to them.

"And your dates are quite lovely." The butler said with a bow towards me and Natsuki.

I almost gagged. Dates? I can tolerate people ganging me with Chou, but Ryou? Nuh-uh.

Though that does sound appealing.

Arg! No! Erase that thought!

I was about to tell them off when Natsuki spoke.

"Why thank you." Natsuki said, doing a half curtsy and giggling. "Now, I'll be taking Choutarou-kun, shall I?" She placed a hand on Chou's arm.

"What?" All three of us asked at the same time, the guys because they are a couple after all, not that people know yet, and me because I instantly knew who I would end up with.

"What?" Natsuki rolled her eyes. "It's just for the entrance. Jeez. Besides, Chou and Hitomi are best friends and practically everyone knows that. It'll make a difference if Choutarou-kun and I enter together. Right? After all, image is everything."

"Where is the sweet, smart, girl-next-door that I know?" I muttered.

"She's buried underneath the make-up, honey." Natsuki said with a grin.

"It's fine, Hime-chan." Chou said with a reassuring smile, although I knew and he knew and of course Ryou knew that the smile was more for Ryou's reassurance.

I walked beside Ryou as we were led to the ballroom. As Chou and Natsuki talked, Ryou was simply quiet.

"Hey, you ok?" I nudged him with my elbow.

"Yeah. I'm ok." Ryou said with his usual grin. He offered his arm. "Come on. If we're going to do it, let's just do it."

I sighed and placed a hand on this arm. "Sure. Just please make this as painless as possible. I'm not into grand entrances."

"It's not as if I like that either." Ryou said. "Besides I'm sure nobody would really notice us anyway. There are always a lot of people in parties like these, especially since we lost. Most people will come to 'comfort' us."

The sarcasm on the word comfort wasn't lost on me. I smiled in sympathy.

"When you're famous, you're famous." I said. "Plus I guess more people will be here since Seigaku's invited, ne?"

"Tell me about it." Ryou replied.

We reached the ballroom. The door was open and music was pumping out some hip-hop dance song. Inside were A LOT of people. The windows of the ballroom were thrown open, leading out to the pool and the garden. Girls and guys were scattered all over, dancing on the dance floor, eating on the tables, standing around and bopping to the music. I can also see some people swimming in the pool and playing polo.

It was like a club, but in a mansion.

Not that it was really unusual. I've seen these parties on TV, though there they were considered illegal parties.

I really wouldn't run it past Atobe to not hold an illegal party. He looked like a criminal anyway, although a lot of people would disagree.

A lot of people looked our way as we entered. Some of them waved at us, and the guys waved back. Natsuki and I also saw some of the kids from school, doubtless invited by Eiji or Momo. It was obvious that a lot of eyes were on Natsuki, and she knew it.

"Anyway, nice as it was, I'm heading off." Natsuki said with a grin. "Bye all." With that, she disappeared among the mass of people.

"Sugee! Hime-chan!"

"Ji-kun!" I let go of Ryou and approached my friend. "Wow! You look nice!" I said, having to raise my voice because of the music.

"Thanks. You look nice too." He said. He turned to the others. "Hiya, Ryou-chan, Chou-chan!"

"Hey Jirou, where are the others?" Ryou asked. The sooner he shows himself to Atobe and the others, the sooner he can sneak out.

"Dunno." Jirou shook his head. "But Kei-chan's over there." He pointed to Atobe, who was sitting to a table surrounded by guys and girls, mostly girls. A blond bimbo was leaning towards him and was practically flashing her boobs at him.

For Ryou, Chou and I, the sad tone of his voice was obvious and his downcast eyes were an obvious sign. I inwardly fumed at that.

Damn that prick.

I smiled for Ji-kun's sake. "Ne Ji-kun, can you get me a drink?" I asked nicely. "Bickering with Ryou in the limo tired me out." I pretended to give Ryou a mocking look. He and Chou got the idea.

"Well, it wasn't as if I wanted to be in the same limo as you." Ryou said back with a glare.

"Come on Akutagawa-senpai." Chou said. "We'd better get these two drinks before they start shouting." Jirou took the bait and left with Chou.

"Ok. What are we going to do?" Ryou asked. "You obviously want to bash his head in." He said, waving at Atobe's direction.

"Do I ever." I muttered. "You know, I realize now that the main reason Ji-kun's being hanging around me so much when I'm near is because he wants Atobe to notice him."

"Duh. You only figured that out now?" Ryou rolled his eyes at me.

"You knew?"

"It was obvious to everyone, except for you and the other idiot." Ryou said.

I punched him hard on the shoulder. "You could have told me!"

Ryou rolled his eyes again. "So anyway, what do we do now?"

"Simple really. Just follow my lead." I said as I walked towards Atobe's table. I grabbed Ryou by the arm. "Now look mischievous."

"What does that mean?" Ryou gave me a look, irritated that I wasn't telling him anything.

"That's good. Keep that face." I said as we neared. "Once Atobe sees us, especially the two of us, he'll know that we'll either embarrass him or embarrass ourselves, thereby embarrassing him as well. He hates us after all."

We caught Atobe's eye. I gave him my 'innocent yet obviously not innocent' grin. An irritated look crossed his face for a moment before he leaned over to the girl beside him. He made a great show of whispering to her ear and kissing her hand before standing up and walking towards us. Ryou suddenly steered me to the right, bringing me out to the patio.

"It's much easier to talk here." He explained.

"What?" Atobe stomped after us and hissed at us, more at me actually.

"Nothing." I said innocently. "Just wondering what you were doing."

"Ore-sama was entertaining some guests." Atobe said with a miffed look on his face. He knew that I was purposely bothering him.

"More like entertaining some girls." I stressed the last word.

"It's not really your business. Now don't bother Ore-sama." Atobe said. He was about to turn away.

"What's got your panties in a knot?" Ryou asked. He looked bored, but his tense posture showed otherwise. "You're more irritable than usual."

Atobe glared at us. "What do you want?"

I gave Ryou a look. He nodded. It was time to get serious. Atobe wasn't really stupid, well he was stupid, but not very stupid. It's just that when he was in denial he was really in denial.

What a stubborn gay mule.

Wait. That came out wrong.

"Why are you doing this to him?" I asked.

Atobe froze. Then his mouth set into a grim line. "Ore-sama does not know what you are talking about."

"Oh, come on Atobe." Ryou piped up. He was getting seriously annoyed. "I'm sure even you, as idiotic as you're acting now, would know who we're talking about. Why are you so in denial about it?"

Atobe kept silent. The intensity of his glare increased. Ryou glared right back, irritated.

I have to do some damage control before they started beating the snot outta each other.

"Well, since you won't give us an honest answer, we'll retreat for now." I said, placing a hand on Ryou's arm. I smiled up at him in an attempt to calm him down. I then gave Atobe my most challenging look. "It's ten, the night is still young. Who knows? You might crack by the time the clock strikes twelve, Kei-chan." I said, using Jirou's precious nickname.

"Ja." Ryou said as we walked off.

Once we were inside and in the sanctuary, if you could call it that, of the loud music, Ryou leaned down to whisper in my ear. His breath tickled me.

"By midnight?" Ryou asked. "You're going to do that?"

"Of course." I nodded. "Can I count on your help?"

He shrugged. "Sure. I got nothing else to do. It'll keep me entertained."

"Good."

I'm not sure on how I'll go about it, but I swear I'll get Ji-kun and the prat together.

My first plan is to find Natsuki, wherever that flirt might be, and to see if any of the Seigaku regulars are around.

--I--

I walked past people, some unfamiliar and some not at all, looking for Natsuki. She was vital to my operation. Ryou left to get something to eat, so I was pretty much on my own.

In the first place, I was really here to eat. Now it turned into some matchmaking shenanigan.

I suddenly felt arms wrap around me. I turned and swung my arm to smack whoever it was.

"Omigosh!" I managed to stop short of smacking Fuji into kingdom come.

"Is this how you say hello?" Fuji asked, letting go of me.

"You surprised me, Fuji-kun. Gomen." I said, grinning in apology. "Are the others here too?"

"Yes, somewhere around here." Fuji said. "By the way, if I say that you look very pretty, will you dance with me?"

I laughed. "Why not? Just take it easy on me ok? I'm not exactly light on my feet."

He nodded, grabbed my hand and led me to the dance floor. Everyone practically shuffled aside to make way for him.

"Popular as ever." I told him, as I grabbed the beret and tucked it in my back pocket. He simply grinned. A song resonated from the speakers and he and I danced to the beat.

You know what? Fuji actually looked hot when he danced like that. He was also very graceful.

I sound like a fangirl.

I paused a bit, but Fuji grabbed my hand and pulled me softly, snapping me out of it. I turned my attention back to dancing.

Although I'm not a sports person, I am definitely a dance type person. I'm not an expert, but I know I can dance well. Plus Fuji was kind enough to keep covering me and to keep me moving. Only someone who really knows how to dance can do that well.

After the song, we walked out of the dance floor.

"You're great, Fuji-kun." I said. "I enjoyed that."

"Me too. You're good yourself, Hitomi-chan." He said.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Natsuki. I turned but she was walking out to the garden.

"Fuji-kun, I gotta go." I said. "I saw someone I have to talk to. Let's dance again later, ok?"

"Sure." He said. "I'll hold you to it."

"Before I go, can you do me a favor?"

"If I can do it, why not?"

I leaned forward and whispered in his ear.

"You can ask Eiji or Momo for help. Knowing them, it'll be a snap to do it. So, can you?" I asked. I knew his answer, but it was much nicer to ask.

"Of course. May I know why?" He asked.

I bit my lip. "Well, it's not my place to tell, but knowing you, I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out in no time. Thank you."

With that, I ran after Natsuki.

--I--

"Sorry. Sorry." I ran away from the couple who were in the midst of some serious liplocking action when I barged in.

"Damn. I guess that wasn't Natsuki. She sure looked like her from behind." I mutter to myself as I walked back to the mansion. "Plus, I'm kinda tired from dancing."

I walked over to a bench and sat down. I lied down on it, not caring whether I dirty myself or not, and sighed.

"Where the hell is that damn Natsuki?" I muttered.

"Are you ok?"

I sat up. It was a dark around so I couldn't see who it was, not that I need to. That voice was familiar enough.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Oishi-kun." I said, as the tennis player walked nearer. "What are you doing around here? I thought you would be-"

"Nya, hi Hitomi-chan!"

"-with Eiji." I realized how weird that sounded and shook my head. I smiled. "Hi Eiji-kun. What are you two doing here?"

Although it was dark, I wasn't stupid to not notice Oishi blush while Eiji looked a bit taken aback.

"J-Just, you know, w-walking around." Oishi said.

"I see." I grinned and stood up. "Well, I'll go on in and leave you two to your walk, shall I?"

"Ah. Sure." They nodded.

I couldn't resist one last jab. "I'm sure you two want the bench… all… to… yourselves, ne?" I enunciated every word teasingly. I ran off, but not before noticing them blush deeply.

I ran back inside laughing.

Eiji and Oishi? The Golden Pair? Not surprising, really.

I noticed my surroundings only to realize that I am not at the ballroom.

"I'm in the kitchen?"

I looked around. Yup, it was definitely the kitchen, despite it being a bit dark. The only light that came in was from the open doorway I walked into and the windows. It was fine anyway. I can see quite well.

I checked my watch. It was already ten forty-five. I have to talk to Natsuki soon or else. I considered going out, but I didn't want to get lost any more than I already am. I thought of following the loud music and finding my way back with that, but as I was too lazy to do so, I grabbed my phone from my pocket and sent Chou a text message.

_Lost in kitchen. Come get me. NOW!_

I suddenly noticed that there were three refrigerators.

"Who needs that much refrigerators?" I muttered.

I placed my phone on the counter and inspected the refrigerators. I was able to grab a soda when I heard my phone ring.

_I'm coming. Which one?_

I replied. _What do you mean which one?_

After sending that, I realized that since Atobe was rich then it was obvious he would have like, ten kitchens.

_P.S. There are three fridges, if that helps._

I sat down on top of the counter, swinging my legs, drinking my soda and waiting for my savior.

I heard the door open and Chou's worried face came into view.

"Hime-chan." He sighed in relief and exasperation. He walked inside. "Jeez. You always get lost, don't you?"

I gave him the rest of my soda which he drank gratefully. "Where is this?"

"The small kitchen." He answered, tossing the can in a trashcan and pulling me to my feet.

"This is the SMALL kitchen?" I gaped.

"Come on. Let's go back." Chou said, holding my hand and leading the way out. "I don't know how you did it, but you reached the east wing. The party was in the south wing of the house."

"Sorry." I muttered, even though I wasn't too sorry. After all, I did find out the Golden Pair's secret.

--I--

I grinned triumphantly as Natsuki waved at me and walked towards Atobe, who was busy talking to some guys.

I wanted so bad to jump up and down at my success. It was close. SO. CLOSE.

"You done?" Chou asked as he neared. He handed me a glass of punch.

"Yep." I nodded with a grin.

"Are you sure it'll work?" Chou asked.

"Of course it will." I nodded. "Atobe the possessive type, as far as I can get."

"He is very possessive, in fact."

"Hiya Yuushi!" I waved as he went near with Gakuto and Hiyoshi in tow. "Hi Gakuto, Hiyoshi!"

"Ryou told us you confronted Atobe." Gakuto said. "He also told us that you also challenged that idiot."

"Yeah, I did." I smiled.

"What is the plan anyway?" Yuushi asked.

"Oh, you'll know it when you see it."

"Do you think that's going to work?" Hiyoshi asked.

I pouted. "Why does everyone keep doubting my plan? It's relatively simple anyway." I glanced at Natsuki, who was turning on the charm and was busy flirting with Atobe. It was pretty easy for me to scope out Ji-kun. He was sitting to the side, talking to Momoshiro and Ryoma. He kept glancing at Atobe once in a while.

"By the way, do you want to dance Hitomi-chan?" Yuushi suddenly asked.

I turned back to them. I nodded. "Why not?"

I was a bit puzzled when I felt a dark aura somewhere behind me. I was about to turn when Yuushi led me away. Once we reached the dance floor, the song switched from some dance song to a slow song.

Now I can feel the dark aura getting stronger.

Yuushi held a hand, which I took gratefully. I placed my other hand on his arm and we danced slowly. I wasn't uncomfortable with dancing like this. I've practiced this dance with Chou a few times, back when he was still new to Atobe's parties and didn't know how to dance, plus Yuushi was a good dancer.

Ok, I can feel the dark aura getting more sinister.

"I know your plan." Yuushi said after a long moment of comfortable silence and graceful dancing.

"Hm?" I pushed away the thought of dark auras in my head and turned to him. He twirled me and caught me gracefully.

"Your plan to get Atobe and Jirou together. It's very simple." Yuushi said. He looked over to the left. I looked as well and saw that Natsuki, who had previously been flirting with Atobe like there was no tomorrow, was pointing over at Jirou. It seemed like she was asking him about the narcoleptic boy. Atobe was answering her, but seemed to be gritting his teeth all the while.

I turned to Yuushi. "Well, would you help make it not so simple?" I asked. "I just hate that damn prick for being so in denial."

Ok, the dark aura was getting darker and more suffocating by the moment. I shivered and was about to look behind me when Yuushi led me away.

"I would gladly help, and the rumors floating around…" Yuushi trailed off.

"-Were my idea." I said. I stopped moving. "Ok, I seriously feel creeped out and-"

"May I cut in?"

"Chou?" I turned to him. "Of course, that is if you don't mind, Yuushi?"

Yuushi simply nodded. He took my hand, bowed and gave it a friendly kiss. "I enjoyed the dance. Thank you, Hitomi-chan." With that, he smoothly gave my hand to Chou and walked off.

"Thank you." I wrapped both arms around Chou's shoulders and sighed deeply as we danced. "For some reason, I felt like death was hanging over me that few minutes."

Chou chuckled. "Mukahi-san was getting very jealous, not that he would admit that."

"Eh?" I turned and saw Gakuto and Yuushi talking heatedly in the midst of dancing bodies. Gakuto looked very ticked off, while Yuushi was grinning and seemed to be egging him on instead of calming him down.

"I'll be right back."

I let go of Chou and slowly made my way to where the two were. They were still arguing when I neared and neither noticed me. I 'accidentally' bumped against Yuushi. Hard. Very hard. The force sent him crashing into Gakuto, almost knocking them both to the ground, had the smaller one not managed to balance quickly. It was the first time I've ever seen Yuushi so…not Yuushi, all un-graceful and un-cool with his eyes wide in surprise. I quickly melted among the nearby bodies and stealthily made my way back to Chou.

"Not exactly subtle." Chou said with a chuckle, as we started dancing again so as not to look suspicious, not that the pair were looking at us. Gakuto was shaking and in no time at all was laughing. He tried to smother it with his hand, but it just kept coming. Some people were starting to look at them.

You know what? That was a moment full of firsts, the first time I saw Yuushi fall, the first time I saw Yuushi blush and the first time I saw him act so ungentlemanly by pulling Gakuto to him harshly and kissing him to quiet him.

Oh, and the first time I've seen a couple kiss for THAT long.

* * *

A/N: There! That's part 1 of the party. Expect part two sometime soon, but ONLY if you guys review. Actually, the story is, in my view, almost coming to an end. It's just my inability to update quickly that is preventing it.

My congratulations to **Marui-kun Is Awesome** and **ezyl's girl** for noticing something vital in the last chapter. I know some of you might go and check out their review so I'll say it here:

If you read the hugging spree part, you would notice that Hitomi didn't hug Ryou.

Ahh…some of you didn't notice that, eh? Kudos to the two who did. That's very important.

I put in the slight Golden Pair and Dirty Pair thing to satisfy those GP and DP fans there, though it is just a brief mention and I think sorta crappy. I might make something happen in the next chapter, who knows? If you want some couples in, even from other schools (since it is a free-for-all party), you can tell me, though I'm not promising to put them all (and don't expect anything mushy from me). I enjoy teasing some couples…ahem.FujiTezuka.ahem… and it is in Hitomi's character to tease the guys.

But remember that, since this is Silver Pair plus Hime centric, I can't include too many. Lucky for you if we love the same pairings, since I already have some people in mind.

Please review and tell me what you think. Thank you.

Rai

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	8. Chapter 8

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**A/N:** Here it is, part two of the party. There's only like, two yaoi mentions here, because I was feeling very…something weird and surprisingly not in the mood for yaoi, which is a real first. But anyway, here it is. There are two ways this will turn out. The first line break will be for Silver Pair while the second line break will be for a RyouxHime.

I hope you guys enjoy this one. Oh, and I know songfics are not allowed, but the lyrics fit, so just gloss over it or whatnot.

Reviews are highly appreciated.

Rai

* * *

**Hanging by a Moment**

_RaiPhoenix015_

--I--

I smirked. Things were going according to plan.

Natsuki was doing well in what I asked of her. She was flirting with Ji-kun now, although not as heavily and blatantly as she had done with Atobe. She was talking to him, all smiles and laughter with a casual touch here and there. Ji-kun was enjoying their talks and he seemed to enjoy being with Natsuki.

Atobe, on the other hand, was still heavily in denial. After being totally dumped, as it seemed, by Natsuki, he was currently dancing with a redhead, who was hanging on his arm every few seconds and seemed to want to stick VERY close to him. You practically needed a staple remover to get her off him.

I fumed silently on my seat. A glance at my watch told me that it was five minutes after eleven o'clock. I only have fifty-five more minutes before my imaginary deadline.

"Hitomi-chan?"

I looked up. "Oh hey Fuji-kun. Enjoying the party?"

"Yes. Very much." Fuji chuckled and sat down beside me. He glanced over at Natsuki and Ji-kun, and then at Atobe. "I assume that's what you're planning?"

"Yeah." I leaned back on my seat. "It's just that Atobe's being such a creep. I feel frustrated about it."

Fuji gave me a consoling smile and patted my arm. "Don't worry, Hitomi-chan. I'm sure things will turn out the way you want it to in the end." He said. "I'll be going then."

I sighed again and waved my hand. "Fine. Fine. I know you want to spend it with Tezuka anyway."

"Now how did you know that?" Fuji chuckled.

"I'm not stupid." I rolled my eyes. "Besides, he keeps looking at you. If he wasn't the all-mighty Tezuka, I could've sworn he was looking at your ass."

"Oh?" Fuji put his weight on one foot and placed a hand on one hip. I looked over his shoulder to see Tezuka watching us, or rather Fuji's backside. "There are a lot of things people don't know about the all-mighty Tezuka, Hitomi-chan, especially matters pertaining to the bed-"

"Ew. No offense, but bad mental image." I shook my head. I made shoo-ing motions. "Go. Now."

Fuji chuckled and left.

I rolled my eyes at him. Seriously Fuji was too twisted sometimes.

I made my way back inside to grab some punch. I was a little hot and a lot louder inside the ballroom compared to the cool air out in the pool, and I was sweating buckets by the time I reached the table. I grabbed a drink and made my way out quickly. I wasn't able to reach it in time before I felt a hand grab my arm.

It was Yuushi.

"Come on. The show is about to start." He muttered to my ear before steering me quickly back into the pool area.

"Seriously?" I looked up at him. "This early?"

Yuushi grinned at me. "Better early than never happening." I nodded.

We walked back to the pool area. I was about to make my way directly to where Chou and the others were sitting, when Yuushi grabbed my elbow and steered me past Atobe. We were behind him and my ears perked up at what I heard.

"Atobe-sama." The redhead who Atobe was previously dancing with practically purred to him. "Isn't that your teammate, Akutagawa-san?"

"Yes." Atobe growled out.

I don't know if the girl ignored him or she was just stupid, because she prattled on.

"Is that his girlfriend?" She asked, hanging from his arm. "They look cute together, don't they?" She looked sideways at Atobe. I saw her glance at me and Yuushi, but she ignored us.

Yuushi steered me away before Atobe noticed us. I pulled my arm away.

"You know that girl?" I asked. Once he nodded, I gaped. "You were planning this were you?"

"Atobe needs to be provoked before he acts and completely forgets he's in denial." Yuushi explained. "I thought of helping you out."

The two of us made our way over to a table where Ryou, Gakuto, Chou and Hiyoshi were sitting. I sat down in-between Ryou and Chou while Yuushi sat down beside Gakuto.

We all watched as Natsuki walked with Ji-kun. They were talking and laughing. Suddenly two girls from out of nowhere walked past.

You pretty much know what that means don't you?

Yep.

They 'accidentally' (as I found out from Yuushi later on) bumped into Natsuki who collided with Ji-kun. The two of them ended up crashing against Atobe and the redhead.

"Now it gets good." Gakuto muttered.

Although we were a ways away from them, it wasn't that difficult to follow up on their conversation.

"Ah. Gomen." Jirou apologized to the redhead. "Uh…gomen Atobe."

Yes, he said Atobe. I could vaguely see Atobe's shoulders stiffen at that unfamiliarity.

"It's ok, Akutagawa-kun." The redhead said. "This is?"

"Ah, this is Natsuki-chan." Jirou introduced them. He placed an arm around her shoulders.

"Nice to meet you." Natsuki smiled, leaning into Jirou. The two girls shook hands. Atobe stood rigidly to the side.

"Is she your girlfriend, Akutagawa-kun?" The redhead asked.

Jirou and Natsuki looked at each other, before bursting in laughter.

"How come everyone keeps saying that?" Natsuki asked.

"You two look very good together." The redhead answered. She turned to Atobe. "Ne, Atobe-sama?"

"Do we?" Natsuki asked, standing closer to Jirou and wrapping her arms around his waist. For me and the others, we knew it was just teasing on the part of the girls, but for the two guys it was a different matter completely.

Everything depended on Atobe's answer.

"Do we, Atobe?" Jirou asked, his face stony.

Atobe looked tense.

From beside me, some of the guys were muttering under their breath.

"Come on, you stupid prick." Ryou murmured.

"Jeez. If he says yes, he's stupid." Gakuto rolled his eyes. "Stupider than me."

"And that's saying something." Hiyoshi muttered under his breath.

"Yes, actually." Atobe answered. Jaws dropped at his answer. You guess who. Here's a clue, all of us seriously thought he would say no, except Yuushi who sighed loudly.

"Yes." Atobe said again. He forced a smirk on his face. "You two look very good together, Jirou."

Then, Jirou snapped.

He let go of Natsuki and did something I SO wanted to do at that moment.

Jirou pushed Atobe, sending him sailing backwards into the pool.

Everyone who witnessed the scene lapsed into silence as the host, and rich-boy extraordinaire, splashed about in the pool. He resurfaced and looked up at Jirou in shock.

"Go soak your fat head!" Jirou shouted. He ran inside the ballroom.

"Ji-kun. He was so hurt." I sobbed.

"Atobe is such a prick." Ryou rolled his eyes, as Hiyoshi shook his head in exasperation.

"He is being awfully stubborn." Yuushi muttered. He watched as Atobe hoisted himself off the pool. Atobe was up and running inside the ballroom in a second. "Then again, that did the trick."

"It did?" Gakuto stood up.

Without another word, I grabbed Gakuto's arm and the two of us were running back inside the ballroom.

"Follow me. I know a shortcut." Gakuto said. I ran after him. He ran, pushing people left and right. He then skidded to a pause and turned to run up the stairs. I was hot on his heels. He stopped and pointed to a room.

"In here." He said. We dived into the closet. He closed it behind me just in time. As soon as the closet door closed, Jirou stomped inside.

"How did you know Ji-kun would go here?" I whispered to him as we peeked.

"This is always Jirou's room whenever he stays in the mansion." Gakuto whispered. "It's just across Atobe's."

We stopped talking and watched as Jirou slammed the door behind him. He sat down on the bed and started taking off his shoes, muttering to himself in anger. He looked to be near tears.

I cooed at him. "Ji-kun looks so miserable." Gakuto elbowed me in the ribs. "Sorry."

"Akutagawa Jirou!" Atobe stomped inside, trailing water behind him. He ducked as Jirou's left shoe came flying at him. "What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing." Jirou muttered. "Get out of my room." He tossed his right shoe at Atobe, who avoided it. Jirou stood up and walked to the closet where we were, unbuttoning his shirt off as he went.

"Akutagawa!" Atobe's voice rose. "Ore-sama is asking what is-"

"Nothing is wrong with me, ok?" Jirou shouted back. He took off his shirt. "Now get out. I'm taking a bath and after that I'm going to sleep, so bug off Atobe." He threw his shirt at Atobe, hitting him right smack on the face.

"Shit." Gakuto whispered as we scooted farther into the closet.

"You just had to hide in here." I hissed at him.

"How should I know?" He hissed back.

Our eyes widened as the closet door opened an inch, but Jirou stopped as Atobe grabbed his wrist. We could see and hear them clearly.

"Ore-sama will ask you again, what is wrong with you? Why did you push Ore-sama into the pool?" He hissed with a low voice.

Jirou glared at him. "Because Ore-sama deserves it and because Ore-sama is an idiot!" He pulled away and walked towards the bathroom. Atobe followed him. Gakuto and I breathed a sigh of relief and scooted to the door to peek some more.

Atobe grabbed Jirou's arm. "Jirou-" Unfortunately, Atobe forgot that he was sopping wet. He slipped, pulling Jirou with him. They landed in an ungraceful heap on the bed.

Atobe groaned. He looked down at Jirou who he had landed on. "Jirou? Jirou, sorry. I-"

Atobe could only stare as Jirou erupted into a fit of giggles. Jirou took a deep breath.

"Sorry. Sorry." Jirou said with a grin. "It's just that Kei-chan looked so funny when he fell." Jirou erupted into another round of giggles.

"Sorry, Ji-chan." Atobe muttered. Jirou stopped laughing. Atobe sighed and placed his forehead on Jirou's shoulder. "Sorry. Sorry. Sorry." He muttered again and again.

"Hey Kei-chan." Jirou wrapped his arms around the captain's shoulders. "It's ok. Really. I-"

"Excuse me."

The two looked up as Yuushi and Chou walked inside. The two headed to the closet and opened it. Gakuto and I tumbled out. They grabbed us and dragged us to the door.

"Please go back to whatever it was you were doing, senpais." Chou said, dragging me out by the arms. I, on the hand, dug my heels on the carpet. I pointed at Atobe and laughed.

"I told you I'll get you Atobe!" I shouted, with a laugh. "I told you so!"

Chou quickly dragged me off and closed the door behind him.

--I--

I sighed happily from my seat.

"You're happy." Ryou said from across the table.

"Of course." I nodded. "I can rub this on that rich boy's face for as long as he lives." I laughed.

Ryou grinned at me as Chou shook his head.

"Hey guys." Natsuki popped up. She grinned at me. "I did good, ne?"

I gave her a high-five. "You did absolutely great, Natsuki."

Natsuki giggled. "Such a waste though. That Jirou was cute." She sighed. "Ah well, come on crew. Let's dance. It's almost midnight."

"Come on Chou." I grabbed his hand, as Natsuki dragged Ryou off.

In the middle of dancing, a slow song suddenly erupted from the speakers.

"Change!" Natsuki said, grabbing Chou and pushing Ryou towards me. "I've always wanted to dance with Choutarou-kun."

I laughed as Ryou rolled his eyes. "Fine. Fine."

"Make sure you don't step on my feet." Ryou muttered. I hit him on the shoulder.

"Hey! I know how to dance for your information." I said.

"Really…" He drawled out sarcastically. He held me softly as we swayed to the beat. I kept looking past Ryou's shoulder to watch Chou, but they were quickly swallowed up by the crowd.

_You're in my arms_

_And all the world is calm_

_The music playing on for only two_

Ryou and I swayed to the beat. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I never expected you to be a good dancer." I said teasingly.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me." Ryou said, twirling me around.

"I know." I smiled. "Like the fact that you are actually a very kind person for agreeing to help me set up that stubborn mule with Ji-kun."

Ryou rolled his eyes. "I'm not being kind. I'm just sick of how dense Atobe is." I laughed at that.

_So close together_

_And when I'm with you_

_So close to feeling alive_

We lapsed into comfortable silence. I hummed along to the tune as Ryou led the way. He really was quite a good dancer, and surprisingly gentle. A thought flashed in my mind.

"Ryou?"

"Yeah?"

I leaned back to look at him. "When I was giving out hugs earlier with Ji-kun and Eiji-kun, did I hug you?" I asked.

"What?" He looked at me like I was an idiot. I lightly slapped him on the arm.

"It would be unfair if I didn't hug you." I pouted. "I even hugged Atobe. I would much rather have hugged you than him. So, did I?"

He shook his head.

"Poor baby." I cooed with a laugh.

I wrapped my arms around his shoulder as he held my waist. I gave him a squeeze and laughed.

"All better?"

_A life goes by_

_Romantic dreams will stop_

_So I bid mine goodbye and never knew_

I looked up at him, noticing then that the lights were dimmed and that moonlight was coming in from all the windows and open doorways. It looked so romantic.

And I was here, dancing with Ryou.

This felt nice, really nice.

"Hitomi?"

"Yeah?"

Ryou gave me a serious look.

"Do you remember back when I called you?" Ryou asked, hesitantly I noticed. "When you said that…" He paused.

"That?" I asked, wondering where he was going.

"When you said that if I gave you enough time, you'd get over me?" Ryou asked.

I looked up at him, seeing the seriousness in his eyes.

"Have you?" He asked.

You know what? Despite all the craziness that has happened, all the squabbles and laughter. I never, NEVER, got over him.

I was so stupid.

I smiled, although my heart wasn't in it.

"Yes."

_So close was waiting, waiting here with you_

_And now forever I know_

_All that I wanted to hold you_

_So close_

"Don't lie." He growled. I flinched.

"Have you?" He asked again. "At least tell me the truth."

I bit my lip. In the turmoil in my mind, I noticed we stopped dancing.

"Hitomi." Ryou whispered. "The truth, please."

I tried. I tried my hardest. I tried so hard to make myself say 'yes, I got over you already', but I couldn't. I couldn't.

I like Ryou.

So much.

So much, that sometimes I end up wishing that it could've been me, that I had met him first, and that he had loved me first.

Before my very own best friend.

In the end, I cried.

_So close to reaching that famous happy end_

_Almost believing this was not pretend_

_And now you're beside me and look how far we've come_

_So far we are so close_

"Hitomi." Ryou's voice held panic. He pulled me to him and rubbed my back.

"I'm sorry." I cried. "I'm so, so, so, sorry."

"Hime-chan!" Chou suddenly appeared. He placed a hand on my arm.

It was like an electric shock coursed through me. I pulled away from Ryou and pushed Chou away.

"Hime-chan?" Chou looked at me in shock. Concern was on his face. "What's wrong? I saw you crying." He took a step to me.

"No!" I stepped back. Guilt filled me at seeing my best friend's face full of confusion and hurt. Ryou looked at me, also with concern.

_How could I face the faceless days_

_If I should lose you now?_

"I tried." I said, my body trembling. "I tried SO hard. I did."

"What?" Chou looked at me in confusion. "About wha-" He saw the look on Ryou's face. It didn't take him three seconds to figure it out.

When I saw the look of realization in his eyes, I felt as if I betrayed him.

And I did.

"Chou, I beg of you." I pleaded. "Never think that I didn't try. I did. I tried. But I couldn't do it. I'm so sorry."

_We're so close_

_To reaching that famous happy end_

_And almost believing this was not pretend_

_Let's go on dreaming for we know we are_

I turned and ran, pushing past people on my way out of the ballroom.

The last notes of the song echoed behind me.

_So close_

_And still so far_

I ran down the hall of the mansion, pushing open the front door and running down the steps. I ran out the gates.

"HITOMI!"

* * *

**A/N:** Don't mean to interrupt guys, but line break starts here if you want Silver Pair or RyouxHime. If it's the former, read on. If it's the latter, scroll down. Enjoy.

* * *

**(Silver Pair)**

* * *

A hand grabbed my arm as I was about to run down the street.

"No! No! No!" I struggled. "Let me go! Let me-"

"Hitomi!"

I looked up, tears clouding my vision. I flinched as a hand pushed back my hair. I looked up to see Chou's face.

I froze.

No. Anyone but him. No.

"Chou…I…I…" I shook my head. "I'm sorry. I'll stay away. I'm sorry."

"Hitomi."

I flinched. That was the first time Chou has ever called me by my name. Even when he was angry he still called me Hime. Now he… Now he…

"Since when?" He asked. I looked up at him. His eyes were asking, merely asking. I couldn't see anything else.

"Since…. Since… I don't know." I sobbed. "I don't know, ok? It just… It just happened. I don't know. I'm sorry." I collapsed against him, crying my heart out.

"I tried, ok? I tried." I murmured. "But I couldn't… I couldn't…" I stopped, placing a hand over my mouth to silence myself, not that it worked.

I have never even in my life cried like this before.

I grasped my shirt, refusing to look him in the eye. "I'll try harder, ok? I'll try much harder. Just… just give me more time, ok? More time… more time and I'll get over him. More time so that I can leave you guys alone. Just please… Just please don't hate me, Chou. I won't be able to take it if you'll hate me… not you. So please, just give me more time."

I looked up at him, tears clouding my vision.

Chou bit his lip. Hurt was evident in his eyes. "H-Hitomi…"

That word just about broke my heart.

Then again, what right did I have?

I broke his heart too, didn't I?

"Hitomi, I…" Chou looked down. "We've been friends for so long. We've always told each other everything."

I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself and not burst into hysterics. "I didn't… I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't want to betray you. I just wanted… I wanted you to be happy. I did. I really do want you to be happy. So I… I didn't tell you. I couldn't. I was scared that if I did, I would… I would…"

"You would what?" He asked.

"I would lose you." I said, my voice barely a whisper. "You're my best friend Chou. You know that, and you also know that I love you very much. You like Ryou. I didn't want to get in the way of that."

I looked up at him.

"So maybe… maybe I do like him too. But your friendship is worth more to me than… than some guy, even some guy like Ryou. So I'll back off, ok? I will and I-"

"Hitomi, if you like him, then you like him." Chou spoke up, looking me right in the eye in seriousness. "I'm not asking you to not like him."

"B-but I-"

"Hime-chan."

I froze at that name.

Chou looked away, not meeting my eyes. "Hime-chan, you can like him if you want, ok? You can. I can't be angry at you for feeling that way. Besides, there's nothing I can do about it anyway. It's just that… It's just that what's really painful, what really hurts, is the fact that…"

"-That you couldn't tell me and that you didn't trust me enough to know that I'll understand."

My mind was numb.

"Then, I found out that you were tutoring him." Chou said. He glanced at me in something like disappointment. "I wanted to ask why no one told me, but I guess deep down I was afraid that what I was thinking was true." He sighed. "Then I slept over at your house and I… listened in on your conversation with him on the phone."

He gave me a look. "Sorry about that. It's odd, though. I thought Shishido-senpai and I were ok together because we were doubles partner, but maybe it was just a phase. I don't know." Chou let out a forced laugh.

The emptiness of that sound made my heart crack like broken glass.

"So Hime-chan, I don't hate you." Chou said. "I couldn't hate you, not you. But don't think that even if it's that easy for me not to hate you, I'll be just as easy to forget this ever happened."

"C-Chou…" I took a step towards him. "I…"

Chou ran a hand over his hair. "I'm just going to go home, Hitomi." He turned and walked off down the road.

"Choutarou!" I called out. I flinched. I never called him that before. "W-Will I still see you around?"

He stopped. He turned his head to the side, but didn't let me see his eyes.

"Maybe."

That was about all I can take.

As I watch Chou running off, I turned around and did the same.

Lucky for me that even though my mind was in turmoil, my body wasn't. My feet led me back home as if on automatic.

I ran inside.

"Hey there, princess."

I looked to see my father sitting down on the living room, a book on one hand. He smiled. It was just like Dad to wait up for me. As oblivious as he is sometimes, Dad always waited up for me.

And I was glad he was there.

"Daddy." I looked up at him. His eyes widened at my tears. "Daddy." I walked over, sniffing all the way. I sat down beside him on his favorite loveseat.

"Princess?" Dad quickly placed an arm around me, eyes filled with the concern of a parent.

It was understandable though. I only called my father Daddy when I was sad. It's usually only Dad.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I… I hurt Chou." I said. Daddy was surprised. I never hurt Chou, much less fight with him. I erupted, telling my Daddy everything coupled with hiccups, sniffles and snorts.

After I was done, I erupted into one hysterical mess.

"Princess." Daddy patted me on the back. "Calm down."

"I didn't want to do that, Daddy." I muttered. "I can't believe I sunk so low as to do that to my best friend."

"Now princess, just because you also like that Ryou guy doesn't mean you sunk that low." Daddy said.

"Well, what do I do now?" I asked him.

Daddy gave me a calm look. "Princess, you do know that Choutarou has a point." I opened my mouth to speak, but Daddy held up a hand. "Princess, I know you're sorry, but you should remember that he has a reason to be angry with you. Angry in that you didn't tell him something that important."

"But Daddy, he likes the guy. I can't go on and say that I like him too!" I whined.

"Princess, that's what's hurting him right now much more than the two of you liking the same guy." Daddy said with a calm voice. "Choutarou said that what hurts most is that you didn't tell him. That in itself means that he trusts you enough to know that you would never intentionally fall for that Ryou guy just to spite your best friend."

"He's a kind boy, that Choutarou, putting trust before it all." Daddy's calm face never wavered. "You know, that's why a lot of people fight with the ones they love. In that they already know that the person they love will always understand them and forgive them no matter what happens, but we still feel the need to keep secrets from them and doubt them."

"I didn't want to keep secrets from him Daddy, but he-"

"It's a shame that the older we get and the more words we know, the harder it is for us to tell people how we feel." Dad said, his words making me shut up. He gave me a small smile. "Princess, you like that Ryou guy, don't you?"

"...I do." I said.

"Have you ever considered the notion that maybe you liked him just because your best friend does?"

"What?" I looked at him like he had two heads.

I've been struggling like this for ages, and he thinks-

"Princess, think about it." Dad said. "Think about it and you'll realize how you feel."

"No offense, Daddy, but I still feel like crap." I said, sniffing.

"Oh, you'll see." He said, kissing me on top of my head. "Now, rest up princess. Things might not seem alright with the world right now, but things will turn out ok in a way you could never anticipate."

* * *

**(RyouxHime)**

* * *

A hand grabbed my arm as I was about to run down the street.

"No! No! No!" I struggled. "Let me go! Let me-"

"Hitomi!"

I looked up, tears clouding my vision. I flinched as a hand pushed back my hair. I looked up to see Ryou's face.

I panicked, struggling against his grip.

Ryou's hold tightened, hurting me.

"Why did you come after me?" I shouted at him, pounding his chest with my fists. "Why?"

"Because I…" Ryou paused, biting his lip. "Because I…"

I pushed him away roughly.

"Go back to him."

Every word was like a painful stab to my heart.

"Go back to him!" I shouted.

Ryou stepped forward. "Hitomi-"

"Don't come near me!" I shouted, wrapping my arms around myself.

I looked at him in the eye.

"If I ask you right now, at this moment…" I paused, taking a deep breath. "If I ask you to choose between me and Chou, who will you choose?"

He looked taken aback.

"Will you…" I bit my lip before speaking. "Will you choose Chou, or me?"

He didn't speak.

I tried to stay silent. I tried not to speak but in the end, desperation got the better of me.

"Choose me." I begged. "Not him."

Ryou's face was a mirror of hurt.

I crashed into him, holding his shirt, shaking him to make him understand, to make him reconsider.

"Why can't it be me?" I cried. "Why?"

"Hitomi, I-" Ryou said.

"No." I shook my head, interrupting him and not wanting to hear his words of rejection. "It's not your fault. I'm just…" My arms fell limply to my sides. I took a step back. "God, I'm the bad guy here, aren't I?" I let out a weak chuckle.

"Hitomi, I-"

"Just go back to him, Ryou." I said, shaking my head. "Just go to him, and don't say another word. Please."

He hesitated. He looked at me, as if waiting.

"Go away!" I shouted.

After a few moments, he turned around and walked away. He stopped and turned. I knew he was going to look back, so before that could happen I turned away and ran. I never stopped, until I heard a loud crash.

_CRACK!_

I flinched as rain fell down on me.

God, this day officially sucked. Big time!

I continued and made my lonely way down the street.

You know what I think?

This whole thing, it's kinda poetic, you know?

I lost the first guy I ever really liked to my best friend.

And they're gays.

Poetic, simply poetic.

"Hey there stranger."

I looked up, sweeping my soggy bangs away.

Natsuki gave me a reassuring smile as she held the umbrella over the two of us. "You ok?" She asked.

I sniffed. "No."

"I kinda figured that out." Natsuki gave a small and gentle laugh.

I sniffed. "Natsukiiiiiiiii." I crashed my wet self into her. In the end, I ended up bawling my eyes out on her shoulder under the umbrella that rainy night.

"There. There." She patted me on the shoulder. "Let's get you home, ok?" She smiled. "Then we can pop some popcorn and watch horror movies until we're so scared we can't sleep."

"Fine." I sniffed one last time. She placed her arm around my shoulders and we walked towards my house.

"You know what?" I asked.

"What?"

"Even if I did the right thing, it sucks." I moaned.

She laughed, her normal laugh. "Well, you never really know if what you did is the right thing or not. That's life. All we can do is walk on."

Natsuki led me home. When we got home, Mom was the only one there.

"Suzuki-san!" Natsuki waved, as she led me inside. A pool of water from the rain was already forming on the front hall. "Sorry for bringing in the rain."

"Ah, Natsuki, it's fine." Mom said. "Honey, did you-" Mom instantly knew I was crying. She was like that.

After a while, the three of us were settled down on the couch. A horror movie was playing on the TV. Despite the calm atmosphere, I was completely out of it. When I felt a hand on my shoulder, I saw that Mom and I were the only ones on the couch and that Natsuki was gone.

"Where-"

"Natsuki is up in your room." Mom asked, switching off the TV. "Now, what happened?"

"How did you-"

"You were out of it." Mom interrupted. "I know when my daughter's sad so spill it out, honey." As kind as Mom was, she was assertive when it came to serious matters.

"I let Ryou go." I said simply. "No biggie."

"Oh." Mom said. "Are you ok?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"I'm fine."

"Really?"

"I'm not!" I bawled. "It sucks! It sucks! It sucks!"

"Oh honey." Mom wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "It might seem sucky now, but I'm sure it'll be ok."

"Of course it will. I mean, Ryou and Chou will live happily ever. All is right with the world." I said, with a nod. "Just let me feel crappy for now."

"Honey-"

"I'm happy for them, Mom." I assured her. "I really am, but I've got every right to feel crappy, right?"

"Oh of course, honey." Mom gave me a squeeze. "You'll see. Things might seem crappy right now, but things will turn out ok in a way you could never anticipate."

"If you say so." I said. "I'll rest up now and wallow in self-pity."

Mom shook her head at me, but a smile was on her face.

"Ok."

I left. I was out the doorway and down the hall when I stopped. I went back, wanting to ask Mom something.

"We raised a good girl, didn't we?" I heard Dad's voice.

"Yes, we did." Mom said. "She's a strong girl. She'll be fine."

"I know she will."

I left wordlessly.

Despite what they all keep saying, I feel totally crappy right now.

And I don't think it's going to start looking up any time soon.

* * *

**A/N:** So how was it? Good, bad or sucky. I think it's the third. I wasn't feeling in the best of moods, but this is how I wanted it to turn out. The next chapter will be for Silver Pair, but I might make it like what I did here, using line breaks. Still not sure.

Oh, and school's starting next week. Arg. I want to see my friends, but I am not thrilled to be back. I'll be finishing this story as soon as I can.

Reviews will be highly appreciated. Thank you!

Rai

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

* * *

**A/N:** Oh. That's a long time in not updating. Sorry guys but school is killing me. Darn. Anyway, here it is: the much-delayed chapter of 'Hanging by A Moment'. I really got to make time to update all my stories. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this one.

There are two scenes here. One is for Silver Pair and the other is for RyouxHime. Enjoy.

Rai

* * *

**Hanging by a Moment**

_RaiPhoenix015_

* * *

**(Silver Pair)**

* * *

It's been almost a week, six days to be exact. It's been six whole days of feeling like crap and not talking to anyone and especially not talking to my best friend.

I settled down on my seat in the library, reading my notes and trying hard to concentrate. Six days of doing nothing but moping took a toll on my studies. I have to work hard to make up for the exams and the homework I failed, which is why I'm keeping myself holed up in the school library. Thankfully, my study period was my last period.

"I've got all the books you need." Natsuki said, placing a few books on top of my desk.

"Thanks." I murmured, writing down a few things in my notebook.

For all of six days, Natsuki stood by me. She didn't ask me anything about what happened six days ago. She simply helped me, kept anybody else from bothering me and pulled me along so as not to embarrass myself.

I was grateful.

"Hm…" Natsuki placed a hand on her chin. "I've already finished up on most of my work, so do you need any help?" She asked me.

I looked up and shook my head. "No, thank you. I can do it on my own from here."

She tilted her head to the side. Concern was in her eyes. That was all there was. No pity.

"Well, I'll keep you company then." She said, sitting down. "I still have to finish a few things anyway."

"Thanks."

She waved a hand. "No prob-"

"No really. I mean it." I said, giving her the most genuine smile I've given these past few days. She simply smiled back and we got to work quickly.

It was a few minutes into doing homework when I felt my pocket vibrate. I put down my pen and quickly grabbed my phone.

I've put it on silent mode all through the week because Mom and Dad kept sending me messages to see how I was. Mostly though, I kept it on silent mode just in case Chou calls me.

Which he never did.

Right now, I stared at the number in horror.

"Hitomi, is something wrong?" Natsuki asked, noticing the look on my face.

"I got a call." I said.

"From who?" She stood up and looked at the screen of my phone. Her eyes widened just a bit before she sat down. "Answer it."

"What?" I looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Answer him." She said. "It's the only way you'll know what's happening."

I bit my lip and then answered it.

"H-Hello?"

There was only silence on the other end, but I can hear the sound of heavy breathing.

"R-Ryou?"

"_He broke up with me."_ Ryou's voice came out clearly.

I froze. "He did what?"

"_Are you deaf?"_ I winced as he shouted at me.

"I'm sorry." I said, trying to think. "What happened?"

"_He's been acting weird all week. No surprises there."_

The sarcasm on his voice was obvious, but I ignored it. I deserved it after all.

"_Then he talked to me a few minutes ago and told me it was all over and done with. I never even got a chance to say anything."_ Ryou said, frustration seeping from his words.

"What?" I rubbed my forehead with one hand. "Why did he do that?"

"_You tell me."_ Ryou said.

_CLICK_

He hung up.

The phone slid off my hand and tumbled on the table.

"Hitomi?" Natsuki picked up my phone.

I buried my head in my hands and sobbed.

--I--

Where did I mess up?

I thought to myself as I walked home alone. I sighed and held out a hand from under the shade of my umbrella. Raindrops pelted my hand.

This rain was just making me more depressed.

I hugged my bag to my chest and walked down the street. I reached the bus stop and waited. I didn't wait long though, before opting to walk home the whole way.

I don't know what's happening to me.

I mean, I like Ryou, right?

Then, it will be ok if he and Chou broke up, right?

Wait.

That's wrong.

I don't want them to break up.

Because if that happened, both of them will get hurt.

And I might end up losing my best friend.

But...

If Chou and Ryou didn't break up, then both of them will be happy, right?

But I won't.

Which is to say that I want them to break up.

That sounds wrong.

What I mean is, I don't want them to break up but I want Ryou.

Now that still sounds wrong.

I want them to break up, but I don't want any of them hurt.

And I want to be happy.

That's it.

…

Wait.

What?

I growled in frustration.

What am I thinking?

I looked up. It took a while for the fact that I was at the park to register in my mind.

I sighed. I tossed my bag on a bench and sat down, not caring that it was wet. I propped the umbrella on my shoulder and sorted through my thoughts.

Both Dad and Chou said that what I really did wrong wasn't in liking the same guy as Chou did. What I did wrong that hurts most is that I didn't tell him.

What the hell does that mean?

Apparently, Dad said that means that Chou trusts me enough to know that I would never deliberately fall for Ryou just to spite him.

And what does that mean?

That I can like Ryou all I want but I should have told Chou as soon as I found out about that, so we could have at least… I don't know… talked about it, or figured it out together or something.

Now I am more confused than ever.

I bit my lip and thought about it some more.

After some time, I brought my hands to my hair and ruffled it in frustration.

"GOD! What am I supposed to do?" I said, the umbrella falling from my shoulder. It wasn't long before I was soaking wet and chilled to the bone, not that I noticed.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm my self.

--I--

"Hime-chan, are you ok?"

"What?" An eight-year-old Hitomi looked back at her newfound friend.

"Are you ok?" Seven-year-old Choutarou asked his friend.

"I'm fine." Hitomi said, smiling. She looked up at the darkening sky.

"What's wrong?" Chou asked. They've been playing happily for hours now, but she seemed distracted.

"It's nothing." Hitomi said, shaking her head. "I just wanted you to meet my friend, but I guess she didn't come today." She turned to him with a smile. "Are you coming tomorrow?"

He shook his head, which made her pout.

"Why not?"

"I have piano lessons tomorrow night." He said.

"Aw." Hitomi pouted. "But I'll see you the day after, right?" When he nodded, she clapped her hands. "Ok. I like that."

"I'd better go." Chou said, standing up from the swings. "I'll see you the day after then."

"OK! BYE!" She waved as he ran off.

Once he was out of sight, Hitomi stood up and ran all the way home.

_BANG!_

"Princess, is that you?" A voice called out from the dining room, as Hitomi ran inside the house.

"It's me Dad!" Hitomi called out, running to the living room. She grabbed the cordless phone and dialed her friend's phone number.

"_Hello?"_

"Yuzuki-san, its Hitomi." Hitomi said. "Can I please speak to Natsu-chan?"

"_Oh, it's you, honey."_ Natsuki's mother said. _"Wait just a minute while I get Natsuki."_

Hitomi bounced on one foot as she waited. She wondered why her friend didn't go to the park as they agreed.

"_Hello?"_

"Natsu-chan!" Hitomi shouted, once hearing her friend's name. "What's wrong? You didn't come to the park? Are you ok?"

"_I'm fine."_ Natsuki answered.

Hitomi looked at the phone with a raised eyebrow, before bringing it back to her ear. "You don't sound fine to me."

"_Well I am."_ She said._ "Ok, fine. I'm not ok. What's it to you?"_

"I'm your friend, duh." She rolled her eyes.

"_Whatever."_

"Natsu-chan, what is wrong with you?" Hitomi asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

Silence.

"Natsu-chan?"

"_Tomi-chan, who was that boy you were playing with?"_

"What?"

"_That boy you were playing with."_ Natsuki repeated. _"I saw you both playing on the swings. Who's he?"_

Hitomi grinned. "Are you jealous?"

"_Am not!"_

"Yes, you are!"

"_No, I'm not!"_

Hitomi giggled.

"_It's not funny, Tomi-chan!"_

"Sorry, Natsu-chan." Hitomi said, smiling. "I met him yesterday at the park just after you went home. I wanted to introduce him to you. His name's Chou and he's very nice. He plays the piano, too."

"_I see."_

"No, you don't see." Hitomi said, rolling her eyes. "He's a new friend and I wanted to introduce him to you. Won't it be cool if all three of us hang out together?"

"_No, it won't."_

"Oh yeah, because you're jealous."

"_AM NOT!"_

"Ok. Ok. Sorry." Hitomi said. "How about we go to the park tomorrow?"

"_Aren't you going to play with him?"_

"No." Hitomi answered. "Besides, he has piano lessons. You kinda owe me after not coming there today, you know."

"_So, he won't be there?"_

"Nope, so will you come?"

"_I guess I could."_

"Good!" Hitomi nodded. "Now don't be so jealous anymore. I'll see you tomorrow."

"_Ok. Sorry, Tomi-chan."_

"It's ok. Bye."

--I--

Hitomi stirred. She sat up with a jolt.

"What the hell?" She looked around. She was still at the park and it was still raining.

"Apparently, I fell asleep." She muttered to herself, inwardly cursing her stupidity. She shivered from the cold.

"What time is it?" She looked at her watch. "I've been here for more than an hour. Damn it. Mom's going to be so worried about me."

She stood up and grabbed her umbrella and soaked bag.

"Atchoo!" Hitomi sniffed. "Rats! Now I've got a cold."

She wrapped her arms around her wet body and was about to run on home, when something hit her in the gut so hard she felt her breath knocked out of her. Hitomi dropped her umbrella in shock.

Her eyes widened.

Oh.

My.

God.

She grabbed the umbrella and ran.

--I--

Hitomi fumbled for her keys. She pushed her wet hair away from her face, frustrated at the rain. She found the keys and was just about to put it in the lock when it was thrown open.

"Hitomi!"

"Mom!"

Hitomi's mother embraced her.

"Oh my God." She pulled her daughter inside the house and out of the rain. "We thought you were missing. Oh, thank God you're safe. We almost called the police when we found out that you weren't with Choutarou." Her mother rambled on.

"Mom. I'm fine. I'm sorry. I- Wait." Hitomi pulled away. "What? Chou?"

"We called him, princess." Dad appeared. His face was full of relief. "We asked if you were there. It turns out you weren't. Now come and get changed."

"Wait. Wait." I held up a hand, thinking. If I knew him, he would most likely-

I grabbed my bag and pulled out my phone. I called his phone. He didn't answer.

"If I know that idiot…" I muttered. I headed to the door. "I'm going out."

"Wait, honey!" Mom called out. "Where are you going?"

I looked back and smiled at them, feeling back to my old self. I nodded to my Dad.

"Daddy, you are a genius." I quickly gave him and Mom a peck on the cheek and ran back out into the rain.

--I--

"You stupid idiot!" I yelled at him.

Chou stood up from the swing he was sitting on and turned around. Worry was on his face, which disappeared as soon as he saw me.

"Hime-chan!" He ran over to me.

I stomped at him angrily, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"You idiot!" I shouted. "What are you-"

He quickly embraced me, dropping his umbrella.

"Oh God." He whispered. "I thought something happened to you. Suzuki-san told me you didn't come home." He looked back at me. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. I'm fine." I said. Suddenly, the purpose of my coming here in the first place came back to me. "Wait! Wait a sec!"

I stepped away from him.

"We need to talk."

He looked at me. "About what?"

"You know what about!" I shouted. "Is it true that you broke up with Ryou?"

His eyes widened, but he grinned although his happiness was obviously not in it.

"Isn't it great, then you can be with-"

"I don't want to be with him!" I shouted. I almost shivered, but I kept away all thoughts of the cold and concentrated on the task at hand.

"What?" He looked at me in confusion. He brushed his wet hair out of his eyes. "B-But you…"

"Choutarou. I am an idiot." I said, panting a bit. I swept my wet hair away from my eyes and looked at him directly in the eyes.

"I was wrong." I said. "I made a mistake, an unforgivable, unforgettable, and damn as hell stupid one but not one that can't be fixed. It can still be fixed."

"What are you talking about?" He asked, taking a step towards me.

I held up a hand to stop him. I placed a hand on my forehead. My head's hurting a bit, but I have to finish this right now. Not one second longer.

"Look, Chou. How can I say this?" I mumbled. "I'm not in love with Ryou and I don't deserve him and I hurt you so much I deserve to die a painful death."

He opened his mouth to speak, but I put a hand to stop him.

"I'm talking here. Please let me talk until I get it out of my system." I said. He nodded and kept quiet.

"Ok." I sighed and thought about the realization that came to me earlier. "I guess to put it frankly, I was jealous. I now know that since the beginning, I was jealous. Jealous of what? I don't know."

I started pacing, not caring that it was raining and that I might slip on the wet pavement.

"Maybe I'm jealous of the fact that you have somebody and I don't. Maybe I'm jealous because you're happy and I'm not. Maybe I'm jealous because…because…" I sighed. "I'm jealous because Ryou was going to take you away from me."

Chou looked taken aback. "What?"

"I don't know!" I ran a hand through my wet hair. "But that's what it was! I wasn't jealous of you having Ryou. I was jealous of Ryou having you!"

"You've been spending more and more time with the Hyoutei regulars. You were always with them. When you suddenly hooked up with Ryou, I… I don't know…subconsciously thought that being with him will keep you away from me, or something stupid like that."

I continued pacing.

"So I, subconsciously I think, tried to get in-between you and Ryou so that when I get him, I keep you. I don't know!" I stomped angrily. "But that's just sort of how it was! Maybe I was also infatuated with him because, like I always said, we had the same tastes. I might have liked him only because you liked him too."

"I realize now that it isn't like all those things you watch on TV where you hide your feelings because if you hide it, it won't blow up in your face because it always does. The best thing is always to be honest because then you can prevent more things from happening, like fighting and stupid mistakes. You knew that and Dad knew that, only I didn't."

I stopped pacing.

"So it wasn't you that was the problem. It was me!" I pointed at myself. "Do you get it now? I am the bad guy here! I am!"

He looked at me, stunned.

Then, slowly, he smiled, and suddenly, he started laughing.

"What?" I yelled at him, as he laughed. "Choutarou!"

"Wait." Chou managed to breathe out as he laughed. He placed a hand on his stomach and took a deep breath. He swept his wet hair to one side.

"That was…surprising." He said, grinning.

"Well, now you know." I said with a huff. "Here I am pouring my heart out to you and you-" I paused and lifted a hand to my forehead. My head was suddenly pounding.

"Hime-chan?" Chou asked.

I stood up straight. "I'm fine. Now where was I? Oh yeah, I finally realized everything and now I-" I stopped again, staggering a bit.

"Hime-chan!" Chou ran to me and grabbed me by the arm.

I shook his arm off. I felt like I was drunk.

"Almost two freaking hours in the rain…" I mumbled.

Chou's eyes widened. "WHAT?"

I couldn't say anything.

The next thing I knew, everything was black.

* * *

**(RyouxHime)**

* * *

I've been acting like a zombie for six days now, and there's no sign of it stopping any time soon.

God.

I've been a mess.

And I have no idea why.

I mean, aren't I supposed to be happy here?

I mean, my best friend is living his 'happy ever after' with his boyfriend.

I'm supposed to be happy, if not for me at least for him.

And I should move on. I can't keep on having feelings for some guy who my best friend's in-love with. It's taboo.

Actually, the moment I fell in love with him is already taboo in the first place. So what difference does it make?

I think I have broken every single 'best friends rule' out there.

I lied to Chou with the whole tutoring thing. I fell in-love with his boyfriend and practically stole him. I hid my feelings from Chou and lied to him who knows how many times.

And I still haven't gotten over Ryou.

Crap.

I am so screwed here.

I sighed and shook my head trying to get back to the task at hand, namely cleaning the music store. Of all the days I had to be on-duty, it had to be on the day I am feeling my absolute worst. This is the worst I've felt ever since the incident. The day after that party I just felt numb. As the days passed by, what I did weighed down on me more and more.

Now I feel like I'm on the underside of an elephant's foot.

_DING…DING…_

I almost dropped the mop in surprise. I turned with the customary smile.

"Good afternoon." I greeted, doing my best to appear happy to the couple that walked in. "Please feel free to look around and call me if you need anything."

"Sure." The girl said, giggling. "Come on." She led her boyfriend down the racks.

I went back to my mopping. I tried not to listen but since the overhead speakers were on the flunk, there wasn't any music apart from the feeble noise coming from the radio at the back of the room. I can hear them clearly.

"Where's that CD you wanted, honey?" He asked. I looked at them from the corner of my eye, all the while pushing and pulling on my mop to look busy.

They looked to be high school srudents and were not much older than me. The guy didn't look half-bad while the girl was thankfully not among the increasing number of whores that are populating the universe.

"It's not here." She said, pouting. "I knew I stuck it here behind these outdated CDs so that no one will take it before I could."

I held back a sigh. Almost every customer did that old routine. Didn't they know that we had something called 'holding the CD for three days until you can scrounge up some money to buy the damn thing'?

"Oh, you." The guy pinched her on the nose with a laugh. "Seriously, what am I going to do with you? You could have asked them to hold it for you for a bit until I could buy it for you."

"Eh? But I didn't know." She pouted. "Now I'm never gonna get that CD."

"Hey." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Come on. I'm sure we can find some place else. I did promise to buy that for you since it's your birthday."

"But…" She looked down. "If I had known, I would've had them hold it. Now I'm embarrassed."

He laughed, a loud and clear laugh that was amused, not biting. "Don't be. I'll get that for you, ok?"

"Really? Even if I screwed up?" She asked.

"You didn't." He said, holding her close.

I couldn't take it anymore. If they think this is some little café where they could cuddle and say sweet little ditties then they're wrong.

"Ahem." I said, leaning the mop against a cabinet. "Is today your birthday, miss?"

They looked at me as if suddenly remembering I was there, which I bet they were. I guess they were too busy being all sweet to remember there was an employee who could help them.

"Yes, it is." She said, smiling.

"What CD are you looking for in particular? Maybe we still have it." I asked.

I didn't know why I did that. Maybe it was the customer's birthday or that I just didn't want them to add more profits to someone else's store, but I spent a good ten minutes looking through the newly-delivered CDs to find the one she wanted.

"Here." I said, coming from the backroom and handing it to her.

She took it and smiled. "Here it is!"

"There. See." The guy smiled at her. He took out his wallet and paid for it. When I handed him his change, he looked at me in puzzlement. "Miss, there's some excess change-"

I waved a hand. "Don't worry about it, sir. It's her birthday anyway." I said.

"Really?" She smiled, taking my hand and shaking it. "Thank you."

"That's real nice of you." He said, smiling.

"It's no problem." I shrugged. "Enjoy the CD and happy birthday, miss."

"We'll make sure to come back again." The girl said, waving as she and her boyfriend left.

I could see them clearly through the glass windows as they walked away. With the guy carrying his girl's purse unabashedly and their hands intertwined, they walked away laughing and smiling.

When they disappeared from view, I found myself feeling just the teeniest better than before.

I guess it's still nice to see that even if romance doesn't work on me, it still works on other people.

I walked back to my mop and after five minutes of cleaning, tucked it in the back. I washed my hands in the bathroom and then sat behind the counter with a sigh.

I opened the drawer and grabbed my phone from inside.

No messages. No calls.

Not surprising.

I suppose after seeing Ryou come after me and leaving him on the dance floor, Chou won't be up to talking to me.

With another sigh, I placed my phone back inside the drawer. I laid my head down on the counter and closed my hands.

--I—

"Hey! Quit it!" An eight-year-old Hitomi waved her fist at two boys who were much bigger than her. Her other arm was placed around another girl's shoulders. She was crying.

"Don't tease her, you bully!" Hitomi shouted.

One of the boys suddenly pushed her.

"Eep!" She fell down on the pavement, skinning her knees.

The two boys laughed.

Hitomi felt something under her hands. She stood up and threw a rock at one of them.

"Hey!" The second boy rounded on her. "Who do you-"

Without any hesitation, the little girl pushed him down, not caring whether or not he was bigger than her. She also pushed down the other boy, until both of them were looking up at her, scared.

She grabbed her toy shovel, which was the only weapon she had with her at that time.

"If I see you bullying any one, I'll hit you!" She shouted, waving the toy shovel at them. In no time at all, they were running away.

"Are you ok, Natsu-chan?" The little girl asked her sobbing playmate.

"I'm fine, Tomi-chan." Natsuki said, sniffing and standing up. "I'm sorry."

Hitomi looked at her in confusion. "About what?"

"B-Because of me you got hurt." Natsuki sniffed, pointing at Hitomi's skinned knees.

Her friend looked so close to bawling that Hitomi shook her head vigorously and pasted a smile on her face.

"I'm fine, Natsu-chan." She said. "There's nothing to worry about."

"Promise?" She asked, wiping her nose on one sleeve.

"Promise!" Hitomi said. She looked up at the sky to see that it was darkening already. "You should go home now, Natsu-chan."

"Yeah." Natsuki sniffed one last time and hugged her friend one last time before running off. "Bye bye, Tomi-chan! Thank you again!"

"Bye, Natsu-chan!" Hitomi waved until her friend disappeared around the corner.

Hitomi sighed and walked towards the swing set where she and her friend were playing in before those bullies came.

She sat down and brought one leg up to look at her knee. She touched it.

"Owie." She mumbled. "Mom isn't going to like this." She put her feet down and looked at both knees. They were bleeding.

"Are you ok?"

"Hm?" She looked up and saw a boy about her age. "Oh, hello!" She waved at him and smiled.

He walked forward. "Are you ok?" He asked again.

She looked down at her knees. "This? Oh, it's fine."

"You really should clean that. Your okaasan won't like it." He said, crouching down to look at it.

Hitomi thought about it. "Yeah, I guess she wouldn't."

"Come." He said, grabbing her hand and smiling at her. "I know how we can fix that."

Without any qualms or hesitation, Hitomi followed the boy. He led her to the water fountain. He tugged on her hand and set her down on the end.

"What are you doing?" She asked curiously.

He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and soaked it in the water. He squeezed out the water.

"My okaasan did this to me one time I skinned my knee." He said, holding the soaked hanky over her knee.

"Ready?" He asked to which she nodded. He placed it on her knee. He expected her to scream, but she didn't. He looked up at her, confused.

She grinned. "The thing Mom puts on it hurts a lot worse."

After a while, the boy managed to clean both her knees until it wasn't bleeding anymore.

"That looks much better." Hitomi said, standing up and looking down on her knees. "Mom won't be angry anymore. Thank you!" She smiled at him and then bowed low.

"It's ok." He said.

Hitomi held out a hand. "I'm Suzuki Hitomi, eight years old. I love eating, sleeping, playing and listening to music. I live right around the block. I've got no siblings and it's just me, my Mom and my Dad. You?"

Not really knowing how to reply to the energetic girl, he simply shook her hand and smiled. "I'm Ootori Choutarou, seven years old."

She shook his hand happily. "Mou…your name's a bit too long. I'll call you Chou, then." She giggled and then stopped. "Oh wait! I have to go home now."

She jogged off, but looked back.

"Will I see you around Chou? Like maybe tomorrow so we can play?"

He smiled. "Sure."

"Ok! I'll see you tomorrow!" She ran off.

--I--

"Oi! Wake up!"

"Just a second."

"Hitomi! Damn it! Wake up!"

I shot up from her chair, almost falling on the floor. "What?" I looked up at Natsuki. "Natsuki? What are you-"

Natsuki looked on the verge of a panic attack.

Her next words sent my whole world crashing.

"It's your Dad. He had an accident."

--I--

"Hime-chan!"

I looked up. My eyes were red from crying. My hair was messy and my clothes were disheveled from running all the way to the hospital and from my constant pacing. My head was throbbing painfully. My thoughts were like a train wreck.

I'm at my limit.

"Chou!" I stood up and collapsed into his open arms. He held me close as a fresh round of tears came out. "An accident…car…hit Dad…he…he's not responding to treatments…Mom's inside with him…he…he…"

"Hush. Come on now." Chou held me close. He rubbed my back comfortingly, making me calm down a little.

"Oh honey." I felt Chou's mom stroke my hair. "Come on. It's going to be fine, honey."

"I'm going to go ask about what happened." I heard Chou's dad said. He placed a hand on my shoulder. "It's gonna be fine, kiddo. Your Dad's not gonna go down just like that." I heard Chou's dad run off.

"Honey, I'm going to get Hitomi-chan a drink. Stay with her." I heard Chou's mom whisper to him.

"Got it." Chou slowly and gently led me back to my seat and sat me down. He never once broke contact with me.

After a few more minutes of Chou's comforting and the warm drink courtesy of Chou's mom, I managed to calm down.

"I-I'm fine." I said, taking a deep breath.

"Are you sure?" Chou asked. Concern was etched into every part of him.

Then I realized that I missed his caring attitude and his constant worrying over me.

I miss him.

"Miss."

All three of us looked up. There was a doctor.

"Are you Suzuki-san's daughter?" The doctor asked.

"Yes." I stood up, only to sway.

"Hime-chan." Chou grabbed my arm and held me.

I felt woozy. I couldn't think straight. I shook my head, which only made me woozier.

"Stop it." Chou said, gripping my hand tightly. "Let okaasan handle it." He looked at his mother. "Okaasan?"

Chou's mom stepped forward. "I'm Ohtori-san, a close family friend. How is he?"

"Please come for a minute." The doctor led her away.

I started cursing under my breath. Panic and fear clogged my senses. I couldn't think clearly.

"Come on, Hime-chan." Chou held me tightly. "Everything will be ok. Don't worry. Everything will be-"

"Choutarou!"

That voice.

I froze and from beside me, I felt Chou froze momentarily.

"Shishido-senpai." Chou looked up.

I didn't. I kept my gaze firmly locked on the white-tiled floor.

I heard his heavy panting. "God Choutarou! Your phone call shocked the hell out of me! When you called panicking about something I almost had a heart attack." I then heard him take a deep breath. His tone of voice softened. "How is she?" he asked softly.

"A little better." Chou answered. "She's-"

"Honey."

Hearing Chou's mom's voice made me look up.

Good news. Please give me good news.

Her face was impassive and revealed nothing.

"Honey, I need to tell you something." She said, beckoning Chou to come to her.

"I…uh…" Chou looked at me, then at Ryou, who I couldn't even look at.

"I'll be back quickly. I promise." He whispered to my ear and let go of me. He went to his mom. They walked off.

Silence.

I went back to gazing at the floor, completely aware of the person standing just a few feet away.

I heard him sigh as he sat down on the bench just a few feet away from me.

"Um…where's Natsuki? Isn't she with you?" He asked.

"She took me here then went home. She'll be back later." I answered monotonously.

Silence again.

"What happened?" He asked.

I bit my lip and the next thing I knew, I was relating what I knew.

"It was a car accident. Some guy was drunk and hit Dad head-on when he turned the corner. The driver walked away without a scratch. They took him away for questioning."

"You know." He started talking. "I'm not very good at saying comforting things and all that but…… It's going to be ok, Hitomi. I'm sure of it."

I froze. His words washed over me like a damp cloth. I felt the ice in my bones melt the slightest.

I heard him clear his throat awkwardly. "Um…I know we haven't been on good terms lately, but cheer up. I'm sure that everything will be ok."

Against my better judgment, I smiled and looked up at him.

"Thanks." I said. The chill from my bones were gone, only to be replaced with a warm feeling.

"Hey, glad to help." Ryou grinned.

I miss this. I miss this familiarity we had with each other before the big kaboom at the party. I miss those teasing games and one-liner wars we had with one another.

I guess I just plain missed him.

"Hime-chan."

I looked up to see Chou. He looked a little relieved yet grim at the same time.

"What happened?" I stood up. "What did the doctor say to your okaasan? Is Dad going to be ok?"

Chou walked close and held my hands. "He's going to be fine."

I looked him in the eye. "There's a 'but' in there. Oh God, what happened?"

His eyes were grim. "He'll be fine but the doctor's say the car crushed his legs so much. He won't be able to walk without the need for crutches or a cane at least."

My eyes widened. "H-he won't be able to walk properly again? As in, forever?"

Chou nodded. "I'm sorry, Hime-chan."

I placed my hands on his shoulders. "But he's ok right? H-He can still talk and he's in stable condition, right?"

"Yes." Chou nodded. "They're going to move him to a private room and then we can see him within the hour."

I bit my lip. Dad is the kind of man who, although impassive at times, is a real go-getter and is very industrious. To not be able to walk properly for the rest of his life will surely crush him.

But he's alive.

He's alive.

That's more than enough.

"Oh thank God." I said. "Dad's alive. T-That's the most important thing, right?" I looked at Chou, then at Ryou.

"Yeah." Chou said, smiling and then enveloping me in a hug.

Over his shoulder, I saw Ryou. He smiled softly.

Our eyes locked.

I smiled back.

I suddenly realized with a start that he was doing the one thing I wanted him to do.

He was looking at me.

Me. Not Chou.

Chou let go of me.

"Listen, okaasan's with him and your Mom now. I'm just going to go check if we can go see him now." He smiled. "Stay here and wait for a bit, ok? You'll see him soon. Don't worry."

I nodded. When Chou disappeared, I felt my legs turn to jelly beneath me. I would have fallen down on the ground, had Ryou not grabbed me in time.

"He's alive." I breathed. "Dad's alive." I looked up at Ryou, tears clouding my vision. "My Dad's alive."

"I know. I knew he'll pull through." Ryou said, smiling.

Without knowing what I was doing, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and let out a cry of relief.

--I--

"Mom?" I walked inside the room, with Chou and the others staying outside first to give us some space.

"Honey?"

I felt myself tearing up again when I saw my Mom's tear-stained but relieved face. She was sitting beside the bed and was holding Dad's hand. When I saw my Dad, I almost cried again. My Dad looked so fragile and yet so serene at the same time. I walked over and placed a hand on his arm.

"Hey Daddy." I whispered.

I felt him stir. He opened his eyes the slightest.

"Hey princess."

"Daddy." I choked up.

"I'm sorry for making you worry, princess." He said.

"How are you feeling, love?" Mom asked.

Dad slowly turned to her. "I'm fine, dear. I'm sorry for worrying you both."

"N-No. I-It's fine. A-As long as you're ok." I said, smiling.

"Rest up now, love." Mom said, stroking his hand. "Just rest. We'll be here when you wake up."

Dad closed his eyes.

"I love you Daddy." I kissed the top of his head.

"I love you princess." He replied.

--I--

**A/N:** That's the end of this chapter. So, how was it? I've been debating on whether or not to use these situations but I think this is how it's all going to turn out.

I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are love.

Take care everyone.

Rai

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